By Vivienne Russell | 23 January 2013
The unemployment rate in the UK fell to 7.7% over the three months to November 2012 according to Office for National Statistics figures published today.
This was a 0.1 percentage point fall on the previous three-month period. There were 2.49 million unemployed people in the quarter, down 37,000 on the previous three months and down 185,000 on the same period in 2011.However, the 37,000 fall in unemployment was all a result of men finding work. The number of unemployed women remained static at 1.08 million.
The employment rate rose by 0.1 percentage point to 71.4%, although this is still some way below the pre-recession peak of 73%.
Employment minister Mark Hoban called the figures ‘very positive’, noting that the UK employment rate was growing at almost double the rate of the US, and faster than any other Group of Seven country.
He said: ‘Despite difficult economic circumstances, unemployment is lower than when this government took office.’
The Work Foundation said the numbers were ‘unexpectedly good’ and showed that more than half a million new jobs had been created over the past year.
However, the foundation’s senior economist, Charles Levy, said there were reasons to think the recovery might not last.
‘Despite the stellar performance of the labour market, 2012 saw very little economic growth,’ he said.
‘The signs are that at the end of the year our economy may have been contracting. The poor performance of the retail sector in the run up to Christmas and the closure of a number of retail chains in the past few weeks are also likely to compound the situation. In these conditions, it is very hard to imagine how the labour market can continue to improve at this pace.’
