MrT-Tar on 17 March 2011
In the U.K, the minimum wage was introduced in 1998 and the only recession we have had since was the recent 2008-2010 downturn, which was deeper than the recession in the 1970's, 1980's or early 1990's. Yet despite this, unemployment has never reached the levels seen during the Thatcher years.
In fact, using the Labour Force Survey the only years where Q4 2010 unemployment were higher than those of Thatcher's premiership were during the 'Lawson Boom', probably the U.Ks biggest consumer postive output gaps in recent history. If we use the Claimant Count method, recent unemployment is much lower than it was before the National Minimum Wage, despite a deeper recession and approaching Gov spending cuts.
