Unemployment rate edges up
An increase in the number of unemployed men pushed unemployment higher, the latest figures show.
The overall number of unemployed people in the UK increased by 20,000 to 1.38 million in the three-month period ending October 2018 from the 1.36 million for the previous three-month period.
The increase in numbers also helped push the unemployment rate up to 4.1% from 4.0% of the working population.
The increase was due to a rise in male unemployment. Their number increased by 27,000 to 747,000 and their unemployment rate was pushed up to 4.2% from 4.0%. On the plus side, the number of unemployed women fell by 8,000 to 633,000, but their unemployment rate was steady at 4.0%.
London had the highest number of unemployed with 236,000 — almost one in five (17.1%) of the overall total. The highest unemployment rates were 5.5% in the North East and 5.2% in the West Midlands.
The other main unemployment measure is the claimant count, which only includes those people receiving Jobseeker’s Allowance and those on the means-tested Universal Credit.
In November 2018, unemployment under this count increased by 21,900 to 992,600 from the revised figure for October of 970,700.