Unemployment continues to fall

The latest unemployment figures show a fall, but the number of jobless benefit claimants rose. Under the Labour Force Survey count unemployment fell by 26,000 to 2.45 million in the three months to May. The unemployment rate also fell, from 7.8% to 7.7%.

Male unemployment was down by 15,000 to 1.43 million and their unemployment rate was down from 8.4% to 8.3%. For women, the fall was 10,000 — down to 1.03 million — but that was enough to cut their unemployment rate from 7.1% to 7.0%.

However, the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance rose by 24,500 to 1.52 million, and their unemployment rate was up from 4.5% to 4.6%.

Male claimant numbers were up by 15,000 to 1.03 million and their jobless rate was up to 5.9% from 5.8%.

The number of women claimants rose for the 11th consecutive month — this time by 9,500 to 493,900, but their jobless rate remained at 3.3%.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber welcomed the fall in unemployment. However, he pointed to the high number of claimants in some areas chasing job vacancies. In London’s Haringey, for example, there were 39 people after every available job, according to a TUC analysis, while in East Ayrshire, Scotland, there were 31 people chasing every vacancy.