The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) was quick to comment on official labour market statistics published yesterday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which update the Labour Force Survey measures of employment, unemployment and economic in activity to the quarterly period November 2009–January 2010, the Workforce Jobs series to Q4 2009, Public and Private Sector Employment to Q4 2009, the count of people unemployed and claiming Jobseeker's Allowance to February 2010, and average weekly earnings for January 2010.

Dr John Philpott, the CIPD's chief economic adviser, said, "One word sums up the latest official jobs figures: confusing. Unemployment is sharply down, however you measure it. Yet there also 54,000 fewer people in work, with full-time jobs particularly hard hit. The apparent paradox is explained by a very sharp rise of 149,000 in the number of economically-inactive people, with the number of students surging by 98,000. Jobless young people are thus turning to study in their thousands to avoid the dole.

"Although a fall in unemployment is clearly better than a rise, this should not be read as a sign that the UK jobs market is recovering strongly. Overall, the jobs market is flat, operating at much weaker level of demand than before the recession, and still at risk of a serious relapse. Most worrying is the fall of 61,000 in private-sector employment in the final quarter of 2009. The jobs market, for the time being, is still being propped up by the public sector, but the public-sector job-creation machine is about to be switched off. Indeed, the latest figures already show a fall in employment in local government; this marks the start of a jobs cull that will ultimately see hundreds of thousands of jobs cut from the overall public payroll.

"Whether or not benign headline jobless figures limit the potency of unemployment as a vote-clinching issue in the forthcoming General Election campaign, whoever forms the next government will face a herculean task in its efforts to return the UK economy to full employment within this decade."

As part of an ongoing commitment to reducing its carbon footprint, independent relocation company HCR Group is promising to plant a new tree for each corporate relocation case undertaken.

Managing director Andrew Finney explains, "Under our Sustainable Relocation Promise, trees will be planted in community woodland, nature reserves, National Trust sites and urban areas across the whole of the UK. Once planted, they will be monitored, to ensure they are maintained appropriately and last a lifetime – guaranteeing that they really do help reduce the carbon footprint produced by our clients' relocations. We will even be providing clients with a certificate (printed on recycled paper, of course) and a unique reference number, to enable them to track their tree's progress online.

"As a relocation specialist, we understand the necessity for employee relocation from a commercial standpoint, but we would also like to work in partnership with our clients to reduce the effects of relocations on the environment. Here in the UK, only 12% of our land is wooded, compared with an average of 32% for each European country. Our vision is to help retain wooded areas, which play a critical part in reducing pollution as well as generating oxygen, maintaining wildlife habitats and improving quality of life."

HCR has already obtained environmental Management System Certification, and is the first relocation company in the UK to be accredited with this achievement.

To support the Sustainable Relocation Promise campaign, HCR will be launching a website on 22 March, providing tips on how individuals can help to reduce their carbon footprint.

For more information, go to www.hcr.co.uk

Locate in Kent has launched an online tool to help hotel operators and developers to find suitable sites in the county.

Over the last two years, Kent has seen more than £50m invested in hotels, and its tourism industry, worth around £2.5bn, is growing every year. Locat e in Kent intends to make the most of the expected growth in demand for hotels caused by the county's growing population and the planned construction of a large number of homes and commercial properties.

With around 30 sites currently available across the county, from Ebbsfleet to Margate, Kent offers a good range of hotel opportunities. The site features a clickable map and district overviews, useful statistics and tourism information. Users can select from listings and maps of the potential developments and can check the planning situation, availability and contacts for each site.

For more information, visit www.locateinkent.com/hotel_sites

Following the announcement by pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca that it will close its Charnwood plant, in Leicestershire, by the end of 2011, resulting in the loss of around 1,200 jobs, a taskforce has been set up to tackle the challenges posed by the closure.

The taskforce, which includes representatives from AstraZeneca, will be headed by the East Midlands Development Agency. Economic development company Prospect Leicestershire will represent the sub-regional partnership of local authorities in Leicester and Leicestershire.

The priority is to put in place support to help those affected to find new jobs or set up their own businesses. Other important aspects will be finding new uses for the site and creating new employment opportunities in the local economy.

Although unemployment has risen by far less than expected in the past year, a Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) analysis of official Eurostat data finds joblessness in the UK to be relatively high by European Union (EU) standards.

According to the CIPD, the UK is no better than a 'mid-table performer' in the EU league of measured unemployment, while also having a relatively high rate of 'hidden joblessness'.

The CIPD’s analysis of Eurostat figures – which provide comparable statistics for all 27 EU member states for the period to the third quarter of 2009 – shows that:

• While the UK unemployment rate (8% in Q3 2009) is below the EU average (8.9%), 13 of the other 26 EU member states have higher unemployment rates and 13 have lower unemployment rates
• UK performance is particularly poor in relation to male unemployment (9.1% in Q3 2009), with only eight EU member states (Estonia, Ireland, Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Portugal and Slovakia) having higher male unemployment rates. However, the situation is exactly the reverse in relation to female unemployment, with only eight EU member states having lower female unemployment rates than the UK (6.7% in Q3 2009)
• The UK does relatively well when it comes to tackling long-term unemployment, with only eight EU member states having lower proportions of long-term unemployment (of more than 12 months’ duration) in total unemployment, indicating the beneficial impact of the UK's approach to welfare-to-work policy
• However, the UK also has a relatively high rate of what the CIPD defines as 'hidden joblessness' (5.9% in Q3 2009) – derived from the Eurostat measure of people of working age who are economically inactive (i.e. not active in the jobs market) but willing to work. According to Eurostat, only five EU member states have higher rates of hidden joblessness than the UK (Estonia, Italy, Latvia, Austria and Poland). Overall, the UK accounts for one in seven of Europe’s entire hidden jobless population

Dr John Philpott, the CIPD’s chief economic adviser, comments, "The UK may draw comfort from having lower measured unemployment than the EU average, but, in truth, we are no better than a mid-table performer in the EU jobless league. Taking 'hidden joblessness' into account makes the UK's relative performance look less impressive still, and once again highlights the scale of the macroeconomic and employment policy challenge that awaits us in the next few years."

Following a six-month refurbishment project, the improved Ashford International station was officially unveiled to the public yesterday by Damian Green, the town's MP.

The refurbishment cost £2.4m, of which £1.2m was provided by the National Stations Improvement Programme (NSIP) and a further £1.2 million was given by Ashford's Future from central government growth-area funding.

Vince Lucas, service delivery director, Southeastern, said, "Today marks the end of six months of hard work which will benefit all passengers using the station. The new improvements will help create an environment where they can feel comfortable and welcome. Coming on the back of the introduction of the high-speed service, Ashford now has a station to match these exciting times.

"This project is another example of how partnership working can help benefit everyone, and we hope this can set the example for not only elsewhere in the South East but throughout the country."

The improved facilities include:

• Extension of the entrance booking hall to include more seating and a coffee bar
• Two new entrances/exits incorporating automatic doors to the station front
• Improved lighting on the station concourse
• Enhanced access and heated waiting area on platforms five and six
• Additional seating and refurbished toilets on platforms one, two, five and six

Surrey corporate events venue Farnham Castle has announced that visitor numbers to its website have grown by a third since summer 2009, when it first started to use social networking sites such as Twitter.

Farnham Castle, which is due to be the venue for the forthcoming social networking festival, Twestival, on 25 March, has, until now, seen around 10% of its total web traffic come through Twitter. "However, this is rapidly increasing," explains Jeff Toms,  director of marketing and client services. "We are now using Twitter to promote our intercultural and language training courses and even availability for wedding dates at the Castle, from which we have received numerous enquiries.

"Social networking is a great promotional opportunity for all sorts of organisations, because it is free and requires minimal effort," continues Mr Toms. "The global reach of sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Linked-in will ensure their popularity continues to grow significantly over the next few years, and we would encourage other businesses to learn how social networking can help them communicate with customers and prospects. The Twestival is an opportunity for local people to find out about this exciting new medium of communication and promotion."

The Twestival will be celebrated at the same time in cities across the world, and the Farnham event is being organised by Surrey-based PR agency thebluedoor and supported by sponsor iBundle. Tickets for Farnham’s Twestival range from a minimum donation of £10 up to a maximum donation of £30, with all proceeds going to the international educational charity, Concern Worldwide.

Tickets are available from www.farnhamcastle.com

Responding to today’s analysis in the latest Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin of UK labour market adjustment during the recession, the CIPD’s chief economic adviser, John Philpott, says that Bank officials have produced a realistic assessment of the outlook for jobs.

"The Bank of England study adds a dose of realism to the view that unemployment is already close to its post-recession peak. As the Bank warns, the risk of further substantial job losses remains, especially if the economic recovery is as weak as most current indicators suggest.

"The likelihood of a ‘jobs-light’ or, worse still, a ‘jobs-loss’ recovery has been of concern to the CIPD for some time. What is equally sobering, however, is the Bank’s comment on another potential risk previously highlighted by the CIPD – that employees may be unwilling to accept the inevitability of a ‘pay-tight’ recovery, with a squeeze on their real living standards. The Bank is raising the prospect of workers pressing for pay rises in line with price inflation. While pay restraint helped save jobs during the recession, the dawning realisation that this will have to continue for some considerable time if jobs are not to be lost during the recovery will test the goodwill of UK workers to the limit. Superior line-management skills will be crucial to maintaining employee motivation and business competitiveness against this austere backdrop."

Commenting on the latest official migration statistics published by the Office for National Statistics, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Home Office, John Philpott, chief economic adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), says that the figures suggest the recession has had little overall impact on migration to and from the UK, even though there has been a sharp fall in the number of migrants coming to find work. This, he says, highlights the need for a change in the debate over immigration policy.

"The 15% decline in non-UK nationals allocated National Insurance numbers in the year to June 2009 offers a provisional indication of the impact of the recession on work-related migration. The fact that the fall was much bigger (36%) for EU migrants from central and eastern Europe suggests that the main factor has been lower demand for labour rather than the impact of the introduction of the Points Based migration system.

"Significantly, however, the recession appears to have had no discernible impact on overall long-term migration of non-EU migrants. This decoupling of the trend in work-related and non-work related immigration highlights the extent to which a policy focus on controlling work-related migration from outside the EU is directed at only a very small part of the overall migration flows. This strengthens the case for a broader debate on the economic and social impacts of large-scale immigration rather than confining discussion purely to the issue of limiting numbers of migrant workers."

Relocation services provider LSS Relocation has acquired The Relocation Partnership (TRP), founded in 1992 by Chrissie Twigg, former chair of the Association of Relocation Professionals (ARP), to deliver destination services to blue-chip companies.

LSS Relocation's Julia Clayden says, "Since Chrissie started TRP back in the early 90s, LSS Relocation and TRP have always worked closely together, and I am very excited about the opportunities this will create, especially as TRP has a strong representation in Scotland as well as England; in addition, their work ethic is very similar to that of LSS Relocation, where client relationship and customer services are paramount."

Says Chrissie Twigg, "As LSS Relocation is a company that offers a wide range of services, such as destination services, move management, cross-cultural training and immigration, this will open up a number of possibilities for the clients that have been with me for many years; I am very much looking forward to working closely with the LSS Relocation team."