Unemployment falls again

UK joblessness continued to fall in May, with the claimant count jobless total dropping by 3,200 to 976,800, the lowest level since November 1975. The unemployment rate was steady at 3.2% of the workforce.

On the government's preferred measure of unemployment - the ILO count which attempts to measure all job seekers, including those not claiming benefits - the jobless rate fell to a new record low of 1,478,000 in the three months to April. This represents a rate of 5%.

However, two regions saw the ILO count rise in the three months to April - the East saw a 12,000 rise and the North West one of 2,000. In addition, the number was unchanged in the South East and Northern Ireland.

According to National Statistics, there were 28.14 million people over age 16 in employment in the three months to April - a 67,000 rise on the three months to January and 261,000 higher than a year earlier.

The number of men in full-time employment rose by 42,000 to 14.1 million in the three months to April and the number of women by 46,000 to 7.03 million.

People in part-time employment totalled 7.01 million, down by 21,000 on the figure three months earlier. Women made up 5.59 million of the total and men 1.42 million.