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The labour market

Rui Costa and Stephen Machin


The UK labour market, at first glance, seems to be playing at Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Employment (in terms of both levels and rates) is at record highs, yet wage growth has been extraordinarily weak. One view is that these are opposite sides of the same coin. Another, more nuanced standpoint is that record employment is hiding a number of serious concerns about the changing composition of work as poor quality jobs, often with little employment protection, have permeated the labour market.


21 November 2019     Paper Number CEPEA046

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