Share |

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Unemployment in the UK stays at ten-year low as earnings edge up by 1.9%


Unemployment in the UK stays at ten-year low but wage rises slow down to 1.9%
http://dollars-vedioonline.blogspot.com/2016/02/unemployment-in-uk-stays-at-ten-year.html

The number of jobless fell by 60,000 in last three months of 2015, to 1.69m
Three in four people are in work - an all-time high of 31.4 million
Number of people claiming unemployment benefit fell to 760,000
Average earnings down 0.2 per cent on previous month


The unemployment rate in the UK remains at its lowest level in a decade last year, official figures revealed today.
The number of jobless fell by 60,000 to 1.69million in the last three months of 2015 - keeping the unemployment rate at 5.1 per cent.
Three in four people in the UK are in work, Office for National Statistics figures from the last three months of 2015 show.




The 74.1 per cent employment rate is an all-time high since records began in 1971, with 31.4million people in work - a rise of more than half a million in a year.
But the figures showed another slow growth in wages - average earnings increased by 1.9 per cent in the year to December - 0.2 per cent down on the previous month.


ONS statistician Nick Palmer said the 'subdued' growth in earnings was disappointing.
'While the employment rate continues to hit new highs and there are more job vacancies than ever previously recorded, earnings growth remains subdued and markedly below the recent peak of mid-2015,' he said.
Ministers were hoping to see the unemployment rate fall below 5.1 per cent and despite staying at its lowest level since 2006, today's figures will be seen as a touch disappointing.
The number of people claiming unemployment benefit fell by nearly 15,000 to an overall total of 760,200.
Today's figures show the number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits is at its lowest level since 1975.
The employment rate of people aged 50 to 64 is also at a new record high of 70.1 per cent, although the figures do not distinguish between part-time and full-time work.
The region in the UK with the lowest rate of unemployment is the South West, where 3.7 per cent of the population are jobless.
The North East remains the region with the highest unemployment rate. The jobless total fell by just 2,000 in the last quarter of last year and 8.1 per cent of the North East are without a job.
In Scotland unemployment stands at 5.8 per cent - the same rate as Northern Ireland, which recorded no change in the total number of unemployed on the previous quarter.
In Wales, the number of jobless fell by 12,000 in three months to 5.3 per cent.
Wales First Minister Carwyn Jones said the figures showed Wales was 'continuing to outperform the UK as a whole'.
'The increase in employment, decrease in unemployment and fall in economic inactivity in Wales over the last 12 months have all been at rates of more than double those of the UK as a whole.
'Claimant count in Wales has also fallen faster than across the UK,' he said.
Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary, said: 'February is another record-breaking month with the employment rate now at the highest it has ever been and wages continuing to grow.
'At a time when we are seeing the number of workless households at its lowest ever, this is further proof that our economic and welfare reforms are delivering more security and providing opportunities that give families the best chance in life.'


No comments:

Post a Comment

sharing