Jobless figures ‘disappointing’

The number of people unemployed in the UK fell by 34,000 to 2.47 million in the three months to May, official figures show.

The Labour Force Survey count showed that the unemployment rate was down to 7.8% from 8.0% in the previous three-month period to February 2010

Male unemployment was down by 38,000 to 1.49 million and their unemployment rate was down to 8.8% from 9.1%. Meanwhile, the number of unemployed women rose by 5,000 to 975,000, although their unemployment rate was steady at 6.7%.

The claimant count, which only takes into account those claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance, posted a fifth consecutive monthly fall, according to the Office for National Statistics. It was down by 20,800 to stand at 1.46 million in June.

There were falls in both the number of male and female claimants and their respective unemployment rates were also down.TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “These are flat, disappointing figures and you need a magnifying glass to see much sign of recovery here.”

He said that because unemployment lags behind the rest of the economy, we have yet to see any impact from government policies on the dole queue. And he warned that when the cuts start to bite, more jobs will go in both the public and private sectors.