Unemployment figures down

Unemployment is decreasing on both official counts, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Under the Labour Force Survey (LFS) count, in the three months to October 1.64 people were unemployed — 15,000 fewer than in the previous three months.

The LFS count, which includes people who are not eligible for benefits, has the unemployment rate at 5.3%. The number of unemployed men was 925,000 (a 5.6% rate), down 26,000 on the previous three months, but the number of jobless women increased by 10,000 over the same period to 715,000 (5.0%).

Unemployment under the claimant count, which only includes those drawing Jobseeker’s Allowance, fell for the 14th successive month; in November it stood at 813,000, representing a fall of 11,100 on the October figure. This equates to an unemployment rate of 2.5%.

The rate among men was 3.4%, with 592,400 men unemployed and on benefit. The number of unemployed women on benefit was 220,600, with the rate holding steady at 1.5%.

Manufacturing lost 38,000 jobs in the three months to October compared with the same period a year earlier, with employment in the sector down to 2.91 million.

In the three months to November, 680,700 job vacancies were recorded by the ONS.