14/02/2007

Fall in jobseeker allowance claims

The number of people in the UK claiming jobseeker's allowance fell by its largest amount in two and a half years, and the unemployment rate dropped by 23,000 in the three months to December 2006.

According to the Office for National Statistics, the fall left the unemployment rate at 5.5 per cent, and the number of people claiming unemployment benefit dropped by 13,500 in January to reach 925,800, its lowest level since February 2006.

"The risk of higher wage settlements (in January) is reinforced by evidence that the labour market is currently tightening as recent sustained, healthy growth is now generating sufficient jobs to cater for the rapidly expanding labour force," said Howard Archer at Global Insight.

UK rate-setters will be relieved, however, that UK wage growth remains subdued even as the crucial wage negotiations get underway. Average earnings including bonuses were 4.0 per cent higher in the three months to December from the previous year, compared with a gain of 4.1 per cent in November and against analysts' forecasts.

Archer said: "Continuing muted average earnings growth in December is obviously very welcome news for the Bank of England, although it is likely to be only of limited influence in the outlook for interest rates.

(CD)

Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

12 December 2012
One In Three Year Six Children Overweight
One in three final year primary school children are overweight or obese. The percentage of final year – Year 6 - primary school children (generally aged ten to 11) who were overweight or obese increased to 33.9 per cent in 2011/12, up from 33.4 per cent in the previous year.
03 November 2014
Increase In Living Wage Rate
The UK Living Wage Rate has risen by 2.6% from today, Monday, and set to £7.85 per hour. According to the Living Wage Foundation it is 21% higher than the national minimum wage of £6.50 per hour. This will improve the take home pay of 35,000 low-paid workers across the country who are employed by over 1,000 Living Wage accredited organisations.
18 January 2012
Unemployment Rising By 1,300 A Day
The latest unemployment figures have revealed the UK unemployment rate is rising by some 1,300 workers per day. Figures released on Wednesday by the Office of National statistics (ONS) revealed the unemployment rate was now at 8.4% of the economically active population. There is now 2.
16 November 2011
Gov 'Failing the Nation' As Jobless Hits 2.62M
The coalition Government has been accused of "failing the nation" after unemployment figures released on Wednesday revealed another 129,000 are out of work. UK unemployment rose again in the three months to September to 2.
16 November 2005
Little change in UK's unemployment rate
The latest UK unemployment figures have revealed little change in the number of people out of work. The ILO unemployment rate was 4.7%, unchanged on the same period last year and around the lowest figure seen for 30 years. According to the ONS figures, there are 28.8 million people in work in June to August 2005, more than ever before - and 74.