How much has unemployment fallen by?
Unemployment has fallen by 49,000 to 2.51 million in the three months to September. This has reduced the jobless rate from 7.9 per cent to 7.8 per cent.
The Office of National Statistics (ONS) said almost all of this fall was due to a decline in youth unemployment.
How has this affected the long term unemployed?
It hasn’t actually. Those who are long term unemployed – for a year or over – has increased by 12,000 for the quarter to September 894,000.
While 43,000 people have been out of work for more than two years, up by 21,000.
How many people are currently working part-time only?
According to the ONS there are 8.1 million people in part-time employment, up by 49,000 and nearly a record high.
If unemployment figures have dropped, has the amount of people claiming unemployment benefits also fallen?
Oddly, no. The number of people claiming unemployment benefits has risen by 10,100 last month to 1.58m, which is the highest level since July and the biggest monthly rise since September last year.
In regards to this, Martin Beck at Capital Economics, told The Telegraph:
Indeed, the timelier claimant count measure of unemployment rose by 10,000 in September, while August’s fall was revised to a small rise, which suggests that the labour market may be beginning to weaken as the Olympics effect fades.
What has the employment minister said about these latest figures?
Mark Hoban, the Employment Minister, told the BBC:
This is another good set of figures. We’ve seen the number of people in work increase by 100,000 and youth unemployment is below a million again.
Adding:
There are still some real challenges out there. We still need to tackle… long-term unemployment.
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