Unemployment down in 2007 final quarter
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has released data today showing a drop in unemployment in the UK in the last three months to December. The ONS said that the number of unemployed people dropped by 61,000 in the last quarter of 2007.
BP profits slumpThe ONS said that the employment rate for people of working age went up in the last quarter by 0.3 per cent to 74.7 per cent.
The total number of people in employment in the period was 29.4 million the highest figure since comparable records began in 1971. The figure also represents an increase of 175,000 over the quarter and 296,000 over the year.
While the number of employed people rose, the ONS said that a drop in average hours worked meant that the number total number of hours worked in the UK had actually dropped by 2.3 million down to 935.6 million.
According to the ONS the unemployment rate fell to 5.2 per cent in the last quarter of 2007, down 0.2 per cent on the previous quarter and down 0.3 per cent over the year. The number of unemployed people dropped by 61,000 over the quarter and 86,600 over the year - down to 1.61 million.
The number of people claiming Jobseekers Allowance in January also dropped down to 794,600, down from by 10,800 from December and 128,500 over the year. The ONS said that the current levels of people claiming Jobseekers Allowance were the lowest since 1975 and pointed out that the figure had fallen for 16 consecutive months.
ONS figures stated that the inactivity rate for people of working age was 21.0 per cent in the last quarter of 2007, down 0.2 per cent on the quarter but unchanged over the year. The number of economically inactive people of working age fell by 54,000 over the quarter but increased 51,000 over the year to reach 7.92 million.
The ONS said that there were now 1.94 million - a record number - of economically inactive students, whilst the number of economically inactive people responsible for looking after their families or homes dropped to a record low of 2.26 million.
Excluding bonuses the annual rate growth of earnings was 3.7 per cent in December 2007, up 0.1 per cent on the previous month. Including bonuses the figure was 3.8 per cent, down 0.2 per cent on the previous month.
The ONS said that there were 677,400 job vacancies for the three months to January 2008, up 7,300 on the previous quarter and up 72,000 over the year.
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