The government has received an early Christmas present with the number of unemployed falling by 7,000 over the quarter, the largest fall since January 2005.
Minister for employment and welfare reform Jim Murphy said: “Employment is up, unemployment down and the numbers on each of the main benefits – jobseeker’s allowance, incapacity benefit and lone parent benefits – are falling.
“These figures paint an encouraging picture and show welfare reform in action. The UK already has the highest employment rate in the G8, but we need to go further still.”
The latest figures reveal that employment is up 41,000 in the last quarter and by 216,000 on the year. The number on jobseeker’s allowance fell by 5,700 in November to 950,100.
ILO unemployment is down by 7,000 in the quarter from August to October but up 197,000 on a year ago.
However, the number of vacancies has dropped below the 600,000 mark to 595,000 and the employment rate is 74.5 per cent, down 0.1 per cent on the quarter and 0.2 per cent on the year.
Economic inactivity has risen by 38,000 this quarter but is down by 74,000 over the year.
Brendan Barber, secretary general of the TUC, said: “Christmas will be happier for thousands of families. But it is too early to say whether the fall in unemployment is a blip or the start of a trend. The fall in job vacancies and increase in the number of economically inactive people who want a job are causes for concern.”
