Half of UK workers 'fear they could be jobless' by end of 2019

Half of UK workers fear they could be out of a job by the end of the year, says a survey.

A comprehensive new index suggest workers’ confidence and security in their jobs has dropped by 10% over the past year to 67%, despite record levels of employment.

Around half of almost 9,000 people surveyed said they did not expect their careers to progress in the next five years.

Workers in retail and in small firms were particularly worried about their futures, but Londoners bucked the trend with the highest levels of confidence.

The data is from the Jobs Confidence Index released on Monday, compiled by jobs board Monster.co.uk and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr).

READ MORE: Firms told to plan for no-deal brexit under next prime minister

Josie Dent, an economist at the Cebr, said Britain was “on the verge of a slowdown,” after a shock contraction in GDP, poor retail sales and a collapse in manufacturing in April.

She suggested workers were increasingly worried about how the deteriorating economy could affect them, particularly as they witness the recent woes of many high-profile companies.

“Jamie’s Italian, Arcadia, British Steel and others are in the headlines, and people are heavily affected by the news,” said Dent.

Low productivity, key for wage growth, and fears over the impact of Brexit have also dampened public confidence and security at work.

Such fears could help explain why record employment has not pushed up wages as much as economists would expect, with workers potentially too worried to change jobs or push for pay rises.

READ MORE: Record employment holds up despite shrinking economy

Dent suggested workers’ concerns were not unfounded, as the Cebr predicts unemployment will increase this year.

“We are seeing a very strong labour market when many other indicators are weakening. But we are on the verge of a slowdown, even if the labour market hasn’t started to reflect that yet,” said Dent.

“Often the labour market is one of the last indicators to react. We are not expecting anything too drastic, but we think unemployment is to pick up.”

Official figures released earlier this month show employment hitting new record highs, with 76.1% of workers employed in the three months to April. It is the highest since the early 1970s.

Unemployment, the number of people out of work who are actively looking for it, is also at its lowest rate sine 1974.

READ MORE: Top 10 British cities for finding a job