18
Jul
UK unemployment total falls to 2.58m
The number of people out of work fell by 65,000 to 2.58 million
in the three months to May, according to the Office for National
Statistics. The unemployment rate fell to 8.1% in the period, down
from 8.3% in the previous quarter. The ONS figures showed that the
number of people in employment rose by 181,000 to 29.35 million.
However, the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance rose
by 6,100 to 1.6 million in June. The number of long-term unemployed
also increased, with those out of work for more than two years
rising by 18,000 to a total of 441,000, the highest since 1997. The
shadow work and pensions secretary Liam Byrne said: "You've seen
another big rise in the number of long-term unemployed... nearly
half the people on the dole have been out of work for more than six
months." Employment Minister, Chris Grayling said unemployment was
"still much too high". "But, I'm at least encouraged, in what are
difficult times economically that we're seeing improvements, across
the board."
Unemployment among 16 to 24-year-olds fell by 10,000 to 1.02
million. The number of self-employed people went up by 32,000 or
0.8%, accounting for nearly half the jobs created during the
period, to 4.16 million. Average total earnings were 1.5% higher in
the year to May, the ONS said. When bonuses are excluded, regular
pay rose 1.8% from a year earlier. On average, UK workers earned
£442 per week excluding bonuses.
Olympics boost?
Howard Archer, an economist at IHS Global Insight said: "It is
evident that restrained earnings growth as well as significant
increases in part-time jobs and self-employment is helping to keep
unemployment down. "In addition, the imminent holding of the
Olympic Games is currently providing a boost to employment," he
said. However, Peter Dixon of Commerzbank warned that it was
"entirely possible that there will be a temporary boost due to
Olympics, possible that there will be more to come, but if this is
Olympic-related temporary hiring, it is likely to be unwound again
later in the year". On this point, the figures showed that the
number of people in work in London hit a record 3.88 million, the
highest level since regional employment records began in 1992.
However, as London's population has now risen to 8 million,
London's unemployment rate remains relatively high at 8.9%.
Mixed picture
Roughly half of the UK's nations and regions bucked the national
trend of falling unemployment. Chris Grayling, Employment Minister:
"It is still much too high." In Yorkshire and the Humber, the
unemployment rate rose to 9.7% from 9.3% in the previous quarter.
The unemployment rate also went up in Wales to 9.0% from 8.8%, and
edged up to 6.9% in Northern Ireland and to 8.3% in the East of
England. In Scotland, the unemployment rate fell to 8% of the
workforce from 7.8%. The rate in the North East of England fell to
10.9% from 11.2%, but it remained the UK region with the highest
unemployment rate.
Source: BBC News