Unemployment falls back again

Unemployment retreated for the first time in five months under the government's preferred measure - the International Labour Organisation (ILO) count, which includes people not eligible for benefit.

It fell by 5,000 to 1,568,000 in the three months to August compared to the previous three months. Unemployed men totalled 951,000 (a 5.7% rate) and women 616,000 (a 4.6% rate). The overall unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.2%.

The claimant count fell for the third successive month. The number of people out of work and claiming benefit was down by just 200 in September to 946,000 - a jobless rate of 3.1% of the workforce. The number of unemployed men fell to 716,400 (a 4.4% rate) but the number of unemployed women rose to 229,600 (1.7%).

TUC general secretary John Monks said: "While today's unemployment figures show that the labour market is flat, there are clear signs that things could easily deteriorate in the coming months unless the Bank of England cuts rates to bolster the UK economy."

Manufacturing jobs continued their steady decline. The latest three-month average of 3.66 million was 4.3% down on a year earlier. He added: "With wage inflation easing at such a rapid rate and UK inflation remaining subdued, there is plenty of scope".