Unemployment falls to five-year low
14 May 2014
The number of people out of work in the UK fell to a five-year low in the three months to the end of March, according to official figures announced today.
Wed, 14 May 2014The number of people out of work in the UK fell to a five-year low in the three months to the end of March, according to official figures announced today.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that unemployment fell by 133,000 to 2.2m, taking the jobless rate to 6.8%, the lowest since 2009.
The number of people in work rose to 30.43m, the highest since records began in 1971.
The number of vacancies in the economy is at its highest since the spring of 2008, before the recession had taken hold.
During the quarter 283,000 people found work, with 183,000 of these joining the ranks of the UK’s self-employed, taking this group to a record high of 4.5m.
Commenting on the figures, minister for employment Esther McVey said: “As the recovery takes hold, more people are able to get a job or set up their own business and become the employers of tomorrow."
Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted: "There's more to do, but it's welcome unemployment is down again. More jobs means more financial security for people."
Ian Brinkley, chief economist at The Work Foundation, says: “This is another good set of figures with a marked fall in unemployment.” However, he points out that nearly two thirds of the 283,000 increase in employment, many of them were part time and that of the 99,000 new employee jobs, a third (33,000) were temporary, leaving just 66,000 as some form of permanent contract.
“These permanent jobs are not necessarily secure – zero-hour contracts are more likely to be for permanent than temporary posts and we have no reliable way of knowing what their contribution to overall employment growth has been in the last quarter. The overall good news may not therefore have much impact on perceptions of job insecurity.”
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that unemployment fell by 133,000 to 2.2m, taking the jobless rate to 6.8%, the lowest since 2009.
The number of people in work rose to 30.43m, the highest since records began in 1971.
The number of vacancies in the economy is at its highest since the spring of 2008, before the recession had taken hold.
During the quarter 283,000 people found work, with 183,000 of these joining the ranks of the UK’s self-employed, taking this group to a record high of 4.5m.
Commenting on the figures, minister for employment Esther McVey said: “As the recovery takes hold, more people are able to get a job or set up their own business and become the employers of tomorrow."
Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted: "There's more to do, but it's welcome unemployment is down again. More jobs means more financial security for people."
Ian Brinkley, chief economist at The Work Foundation, says: “This is another good set of figures with a marked fall in unemployment.” However, he points out that nearly two thirds of the 283,000 increase in employment, many of them were part time and that of the 99,000 new employee jobs, a third (33,000) were temporary, leaving just 66,000 as some form of permanent contract.
“These permanent jobs are not necessarily secure – zero-hour contracts are more likely to be for permanent than temporary posts and we have no reliable way of knowing what their contribution to overall employment growth has been in the last quarter. The overall good news may not therefore have much impact on perceptions of job insecurity.”
