16/05/2012

Drop In UK Unemployment

Newly published figures show that UK unemployment fell by 45,000 to 2.63 million between January and March.

The Office for National Statistics said the jobless rate fell to 8.2% and youth unemployment was down by 17,000 to 1.02 million.

But the number of people unemployed for more than a year increased by 27,000 to 887,000, the worst total since 1996.

The number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance fell by 13,700 to 1.59 million in April.

Part-time working hit another record. The ONS said the total number was 7.99 million between January and March, up 118,000 compared with the previous three-month period between October and December.

Those working part-time because they couldn’t find a full-time job were also the highest since records began in 1992 at 1.42 million, up 73,000 on the previous quarter.

Employment Minister Chris Grayling said overall the figures were a "welcome step in the right direction".

"For a number of months now, employment has been growing and this is starting to feed through into improving unemployment figures.

"However, we still face significant international uncertainty so we need to hold firm on our current economic strategy and continue to do everything we can to ensure unemployment continues to fall."

(H)


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