Despite the stellar performance of the labour market, 2012 saw very little economic growth.
But wages growth and inflation eventually soared and only came back under control after a wrenching recession.The improvement in the performance of the labour market has several sources.
With long-term unemployment at the highest level since 1997, despite the generally good performance of the labour market, this is a real worry.
Gerwyn Davies, a CIPD spokesman, said: "The relationship between pay, productivity and employment is key to understanding the performance of the labour market in recent years.
"Getting our industrial strategy right and understanding what the UK's future relationship with the EU will be will help ensure that this worry does not negatively impact the future performance of the labour market," he said.
Compare the performance of the labour market in the three years to spring 1997 under the Tories, and in the three years to spring 2000 under Labour, and it is clear that the fall in unemployment was considerably larger under the Conservatives around 700,000 compared with around 400,000.
This is one reason why the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted unanimously this month to keep interest rates on hold, after two cliffhanging months when there was only a five-to-four majority in favour.The improved trade-off between unemployment and wages is what makes the performance of the labour market in the 1990s superior to that of the 1980s.
The difference is that whereas the former did make a real difference to Britain's long-run economic performance, the effects of Labour's spending splurge are still unclear.Why the man you've never heard of mattersMore than anything, however, the Tories' plight is a direct consequence of Tony Blair's particular genius.
A performance of "Love's Labour's Lost" in British sign language is also planned.
