What’s the damage? The impact of the great recession on the jobs market in Britain and America — and the prospects for a recovery

With a recovery in GDP now taking hold in the UK, attention is being drawn to the nature of the upturn. Central to this debate will be the outlook for the labour market. As things stand, uncertainty is the order of the day. Will unemployment keep falling as growth takes hold, followed by rising real wages? Or will weaknesses in the UK labour market prove to be structural, leading to a two tier recovery that leaves many workers behind?

This event launched new Resolution Foundation research that reveals how the great recession has reshaped the UK labour market and that compares trends in Britain with those seen in America. In both countries there are worrying signs that the great recession has amplified existing problems. These findings were presented as part of a wider discussion about the prospects for the UK and US labour markets in the recovery.