Manufacturing jobs fall at a faster rate

The number of jobs in manufacturing has plunged below the three million mark, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). And it happened earlier than expected.

The ONS has revised downwards employment figures for the sector, which showed that the number of jobs fell below the three million mark last July. The latest figure for the three months to January 2007 show they now number just 2.97 million - a fall of 59,000 or 2.0% on the same period a year earlier.

Unemployment continues to fall. Under the Labour Force Survey (LFS) count it was down by 3,000 to 1.69 million in the three months to January compared with the previous quarter.

The LFS count is the government's preferred measure and includes people not eligible for benefits. The unemployment rate was steady at 5.5%. There were 967,000 unemployed men under the count and 726,000 women.

Unemployment under the claimant count, which only includes those drawing Jobseeker's Allowance, also fell by 3,800 to 922,200 in February.

The unemployment rate under this count was steady at 2.9%. The number of unemployed men on benefit was down to 675,600 - a 4.0% rate - and the number of unemployed women was down to 246,600 - a 1.7% rate.