Unemployment takes a tumble


Unemployment fell by 23,000, latest official figures show. 


However, in the three-month period July to September 2019, unemployment was still above the 1.3 million mark at 1.31 million.


The fall in numbers was enough to cut the unemployment rate to 3.8% from 3.9% in the previous three-month period for April to June.


The number of unemployed men fell by 9,000 to 731,000, but their rate was unchanged at 4.1%.


Meanwhile, the number of unemployed women fell by 14,000 to 575,000, but their unemployment rate remained at 3.7%.


There was another increase in numbers under the other main official unemployment measure, the claimant count. 


This only includes claimants receiving Jobseeker’s Allowance and those on the means-tested Universal Credit.


In October 2019, unemployment under this count was 1.22 million — a 33,000 increase on the previous month, pushing the joblessness rate up to 3.4% from 3.3%.


Male claimants increased by 16,500 to 711,300, but their joblessness rate was steady at 3.7%. 


There was a similar increase in the number of female claimants, pushing their total up to 506,700 and their joblessness rate up to 3.0% from 2.9%.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peoplenotinwork/unemployment