UK unemployment posts a fall

Unemployment fell by 63,000 in the three months to January to 2.33 million, according to the Labour Force Survey count. The number of unemployed men was cut by 60,000 to 1.29 million. The 3,000 drop in the number of unemployed women brought their total down to 1.04 million.

The overall unemployment rate was down to 7.2% in the period to January against the 7.4% rate for the previous three-month period.

In February, the claimant count, which only includes those on Jobseeker’s Allowance, posted a monthly fall of 34,600 to 1.17 million. Male claimant numbers were down by 23,800 to 755,500, while female claimant numbers were cut by 10,800 to 419,300.

The joblessness rate was cut to 3.5% from 3.6%. For men it was down to 4.2% from 4.3% and for women 2.7% from 2.8%.

The UK employment total was up by 105,000 to 30.19 million in the quarter to January, according to the Office for National Statistics. However, that was due to a 211,000 increase in the self-employed, as employee numbers were down by 60,000.

On temporary working, well over a third (37%) of 1.61 million employees were in temporary jobs as they could not find a permanent one. And 18.2% were in part-time work because they could not find a full-time job.

www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_354442.pdf