Unemployment drops below 7%
16 Apr 2014 12:56 PM
Unemployment has dropped below 7% for the first
time since the recession and employment has seen the biggest annual jump in a
generation.
Unemployment has dropped below 7% for the first time
since the recession and employment has seen the biggest annual jump in a
generation, figures published by the Office for National Statistics today (16
April 2014) show.
Unemployment fell by 77,000 in the last 3 months, taking
the unemployment rate to 6.9% for the first time since 2009.
In
the largest annual rise in nearly 25 years, the number of people of people in a
job rose by 691,000 – more than double the population of Newcastle
– bringing the record number of people in work to 30.39
million.
Wages also rose on the year by 1.7%, against
yesterday’s announcement that March’s inflation had dropped to
1.6%, and job vacancies rose again, up 108,000 over the past year bringing the
number of vacancies in the UK economy to 611,000.
Minister for Employment Esther McVey
said:
More young people are in work, more women are in work,
wages are going up, and more and more businesses are hiring – and
it’s a credit to them that Britain is working again.
But
there is still more to do – which is why I’d go even further and
call on more employers to work with us to tap into the talent pool the UK
offers.
The
number of people in work has increased by 1.5 million since 2010 – over a
million of these jobs are full-time – and the employment rate is now
72.6%, showing the government’s long-term economic plan to back
enterprise and businesses so they can create jobs is working.
The
proportion of women in work also hit a new record of 67.6% – the highest
since records began.
Long-term unemployment is down 93,000 on the year, which
is the largest annual fall since 1998. The number of unemployed young people
also fell, by 38,000 over the last 3 months, and has been falling now for the
last 7 months.
The
number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) fell by 30,400 last
month and is down 386,100 on the year. The number of young people
claiming JSA has been falling for the last 22
months.
Today Employment Minister Esther McVey is visiting the
north east, where employment is increasing and unemployment is falling. She
will be seeing first hand government schemes in action, such as the event
training scheme that produced Jesse J’s make-up artist, and Jamie’s
Italian restaurant in Newcastle, which are helping young people increase their
skills and find jobs.
Background to labour market statistics: April
2014
This month’s Labour Force Survey covers December
2013 to February 2014. The claimant count is for March 2014 and the vacancy
count for January 2014 to March 2014.
The
number of people in work rose this quarter
- 30.39 million people were in work in December 2013 to
February 2014
- the
employment level rose 239,000 on the previous quarter and 691,000 on the
year
- the
employment rate is 72.6%, up 0.5 points on the quarter and up 1.2 points on the
year
ILO
unemployment fell this quarter
- 2.24 million people were ILO unemployed in December 2013
to February 2014, down 77,000 on the previous quarter and 320,000 on the
year
- the
ILO unemployment rate is 6.9%, down 0.3 points on the quarter and down 1.1
points on the year
The
level of economic inactivity is down on the quarter and on the
year
- the
economic inactivity level is 8.85 million in the December 2013 to February 2014
quarter, down 86,000 on the previous quarter and 104,000 on the
year
- the
economic inactivity rate is 21.9%, down 0.2 points on the quarter and down 0.3
points on the year
- excluding students, inactivity as a share of the 16-64
population is 16.4%, down 0.1 points on the quarter and down 0.3 points on the
year
The
number of people claiming one of the main out-of-work benefits is
falling
- claimant unemployment was 1.14 million in March 2014,
down 30,400 on the month and down 386,100 on the year
- the
claimant count rate is 3.4%, down 0.1 points on the month and down 1.2 points
on the year
- in
the year to August 2013, the number claiming incapacity benefits fell 76,200 to
2.44 million – the most recent provisional figure for February 2013
suggests the caseload has risen slightly since then
- in
the year to August 2013, the number of lone parents on income support fell
47,700 to 498,000 – the provisional figure for February 2013 is
480,000
The
number of redundancies rose and unfilled vacancies rose on the
quarter
- there were 117,000 redundancies in December 2013 to
February 2014, up 5,000 on the previous quarter but down 20,000 on the
year
- ONS’ vacancy survey estimates an average of
611,000 unfilled vacancies in the 3 months to March 2014, up 38,000 on the
previous quarter and 108,000 on the year
Total weekly pay in December to February 2014 was up by
1.7% over the year
- growth in regular weekly pay, excluding bonuses, was up
by 1.4% on the year
More information
Read the Universal Credit
experimental statistics, also out today.
Contact Press Office
Media enquiries for this press release – 020 3267
5161
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