Unemployment continues to fall


Unemployment has continued to fall, according to the latest official figures — and the unemployment rate is now at its lowest since August 1975.


Under the Labour Force Survey (LFS) count, the number of unemployed people fell by 45,000 to 1.56 million in the three-month period December 2016 to February 2017. 


The LFS count was last lower in the three-month period ending January 2006.The unemployment rate was down to 4.7% from 4.8%. That’s its lowest level for over 40 years. 


The number of unemployed men accounted for two-thirds of the fall. 


Their numbers were down by 30,000 to 853,000, and their unemployment rate was cut to 4.8% from 5.0%, according to the Office for National Statistics. 


The number of unemployed women fell by 15,000 to 706,000, and their unemployment rate fell to 4.5% from the 4.6%.


The claimant count — which only includes claimants of Jobseeker’s Allowance and those on the means-tested Universal Credit — posted an increase in numbers. 


In March 2017, unemployment under this count increased by 25,500 to 7654,400 from the revised figure for February of 739,900. 


The increase in numbers pushed the joblessness rate up to 2.2% in March from 2.1% the previous month.


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