13/08/2003

Unemployment dips to two-year low in UK

The UK’s unemployment rate is now at a two-year low, according to the latest figures released from the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

Data for the three months to June showed that the unemployment stood at 1.46 million, a fall of 0.1% to 5%. This was a fall of 42,000 - 30,000 fewer men and 12,000 fewer women unemployed - compared with the previous three months. These figures represent an unemployment rate of 5.5% for men and 4.3% for women, the lowest ever rate for women.

In July, the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance decreased and the labour market trends showed that the employment rate is increasing and the unemployment rate is falling. The employment rate for people of working age was 74.7%, up from 74.6%. The number of people in employment rose 63,000 over the previous three months to a record 27.92 million.

The number of men in employment rose 85,000 to 15.08 million. The number of women in employment fell 21,000 to 12.84 million.

The figures revealed a rise of 47,000 full-time workers to 20.74 million and a rise of 16,000 part-time workers to 7.19 million.

The numbers of those people defined as “self-employed” rose by 119,000 to 3.34 million, while employees fell by 52,000 to 24.41 million.

The ONS data revealed that the average number of job vacancies for the three months to July 2003 was 605,100 – just over 20,000 fewer than a year earlier.

The annual rate of growth in average earnings for the three months to June 2003 was 3.1%, down from 3.5%.

(SP)

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