The latest labour market figures from the Office for National Statistics shows that there has been a rise in the number of unemployed over the quarter but also a fall in the numbers claiming benefits.
Jim Murphy, minister of state for employment and welfare reform, said: “Since 1997 the numbers on Jobseeker’s Allowance, incapacity and lone parents benefits are down by over 900,000 and they continue to fall. Today’s figures show that the number of people on incapacity benefits is at its lowest for over seven years.”
The number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance fell by 15,700 in April – to 890,000 – down by 57,100 over the year.
Those claiming incapacity benefits fell by 38,000 in the year to November 2006 to 2.67 million, while the number on lone parent benefits fell by 3,000 to 776,000 for the same period.
The latest figures show that employment fell by 55,000 during the first quarter of 2007 but is still up by 93,000 rise over the year. The ILO measurement of unemployment is up 13,000 – and 101,000 over the year.
Economic inactivity – classed as people of working age but not looking for a job – has risen by 85,000 over the quarter. But because there has been a downward trend over the past few months, over the year the number of economically inactive people rose by 78,000.
The number of vacancies remains high, with an estimate of 638,600 unfilled vacancies in the three months to April, up 32,100 from the previous quarter and 50,900 over the year..
