Unemployment edges higher
Unemployment edged higher in the latest quarter, official data reveals. The number of unemployed people in the UK increased by 21,000 to 1.38 million in the three-month period ending September 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 more men being unemployed. Their number increased by 29,000 to 750,000 and their unemployment rate was pushed up to 4.2% from 4.0%. On the other hand, the number of unemployed women fell by 8,000 to 631,000 but their unemployment rate was steady at 4.0%.
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 October, unemployment under this count increased by 20,200 to 967,700 from the revised figure for September of 947,500. The increase pushed the joblessness rate up to 2.7% from 2.6%.
The numbers of male claimants increased by 9,400 to 580,700 and their joblessness rate increased to 3.1% from 3.0%. The 10,800 increase in female claimants took their total to 387,000, pushing their joblessness rate up to 2.3% from 2.2%.