Unemployment falls by 125,000

19 Feb 14
The number of unemployed people fell by 125,000 to 2.34 million in the last quarter of 2013, the Office for National Statistics has said

By Richard Johnstone | 19 February 2014

The number of unemployed people fell by 125,000 to 2.34 million in the last quarter of 2013, the Office for National Statistics has said.

Publishing labour market figures for October to December, the ONS also said that a record number of women were now in work. The total number of people in employment was 30.15 million, or 72.1% of the working-age population, up 193,000 over the quarter. This includes an employment rate for women of 67.2% – the highest proportion since records began in 1971.

However, despite the fall in the overall number of unemployed people, the unemployment rate increased to 7.2%, up from 7.1% in last month's figures.

Welcoming the figures, employment minister Esther McVey said there were now 1.3 million more people in jobs since the government came to power in 2010, of which more than 1 million were full-time posts.

‘With employment continuing to increase, it’s clear that the government’s long-term plan to build a stronger, more secure economy is helping businesses create jobs and get people into work,’ she added.

‘Record numbers of women are in work and youth unemployment continues to fall, which means more people have the security of a regular wage and can plan for their future.’

Adding his comments to the figures, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said the coalition government was rebuilding the economy ‘quarter by quarter, job by job’.

‘Every job created is a family helped and a boost to our economic growth,’ he said.  

‘This, combined with the encouraging news on inflation earlier this week, is further convincing evidence that our economic plan is working.’

However, the Work Foundation think-tank warned that insecurity remained in the job market.

Senior economist Charles Levy said the figures revealed wages were still failing to keep pace with cost-of-living increases. 

‘While there is a big drop in youth unemployment, it increased slightly among 16- and 17-year-olds, emphasising wider unanswered structural problems,’ he added. 

‘Underemployment remains a problem with 1.4 million individuals working part-time. The jump in self-employment is also of concern since self-employment is dominated by low-wage work. 

‘If our recovery is to be sustained, the attention must now shift onto supporting those on the edge of our labour market.’


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