DELIVERING the Employment Rights Bill in full will provide a better economic foundation for both businesses and workers, the TUC said today as statistics showed more than million workers remain on zero-hours contracts.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that the number of insecure contracts are still high at 1.13 million.

Average regular pay, however, rose 5.9 per cent in the three months to December — 3.4 per cent higher than Consumer Prices Index inflation.

The number of job vacancies fell 9,000 to 819,000 in the three months to January.

Unemployment and employment rates were both up by 0.1 percentage points on the quarter.

But youth unemployment rose to 12.8 per cent, up from 10.6 per cent a year ago — with 16 to 24-year-olds now making up two thirds of new job seekers. 

The data comes amid warnings from businesses over job losses and higher prices after the government moved to increase National Insurance contributions and announced another rise in the minimum wage in last October’s Budget.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said a “decade of inaction on insecure work” was behind the number of zero-hour contracts which the Bill “will rightly ban.”  

He added: “There are some better signs in the employment data. But ministers must keep their focus on supporting jobs.

“The government’s industrial strategy and infrastructure plans are an opportunity to create good new jobs where they’re most needed.

“And job seekers need access to well-funded training and employment support. 

“Steady real pay growth after years of stagnation should support consumer confidence and spending, strengthening growth.” 

On youth unemployment and inactivity due to long term sickness, Mr Nowak called for an approach that improves access to health services and gives young people “genuine opportunities to earn and learn.”

Work Foundation think tank principal analyst Rebecca Florisson said that the wage growth was not leading to significant improvements in living standards, arguing that “it is more critical than ever that ministers prioritise the measures outlined in the Employment Rights Bill, the industrial strategy and Get Britain Working White Paper.

“Any delay or dilution of their introduction will only further exacerbate the issues facing workers and job seekers, and increase the sense of uncertainty amongst employers as to the landscape within which they will be operating in the future.”