UK Unemployment Figures Drop

The Daily Telegraph reports:

Unemployment has fallen by 88,000 to reach 2.43m – the largest quarterly drop in 11 years – but figures show the number of people working part-time because they could not find a full-time job has risen to a new record.

The number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance also rose at its fastest pace in almost two years in May, painting a more worrying picture of the state of the labour market as the figures are more up to date than the quarter to April. The number of people claiming jobless benefits rose by 19,600 in May, more than double forecasts for an increase of 7,000 and the biggest rise since July 2009.

The number of people "under-employed", forced to work part-time because there are not enough full-time jobs available, increased by 46,000 in the three months to April to reach 1.21m, the highest figure since records began in 1992, the Office for National Statistics said.

However, the Government will take some relief from the figures as the quarterly fall in unemployment occurred mainly among young people aged 16 to 24. The unemployment rate for the quarter was 7.7pc, down 0.3 on the previous quarter. The total number of unemployed people fell by 88,000 over the quarter to reach 2.43m, the largest quarterly fall since August 2000.

But the fall in unemployment may be skewed by an increase in the number of students not actively searching work and instead opting for full-time education. The total number of 16 to 24 year-olds in full-time education rose by 61,000 on the quarter to reach 3.1m.

Long-term unemployment – those out of work for 12 months or more – also fell by 16,000 over the quarter to reach 829,000, but the number of people unemployed for two years or more increased by 39,000 to reach 385,000, suggesting those out of work for lengthy periods of time were finding it harder to re-enter the labour market.