The number of people unemployed, the unemployment rate, and the claimant count, all increased over the three months to June 2008, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics.
Labour Market Statistics figures released last month also showed there was another rise in the number of people claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance, while the number of vacancies fell.
The number of unemployed people increased by 60,000 over the quarter to 1.67 million. This is an increase of 15,000 over the year. The unemployment rate was 5.4%, up 0.2% on the previous quarter, but unchanged over the year.
The number of people who remained out of work for more than 12 months was 411,000 in the three months to June 2008. This is an increase of 16,000 on the previous quarter. And unemployment among 18- to 24-year-olds stood at 520,000, up from 11,000 in the three months to March 2008.
The employment rate for working-age people (defined as 16-64 for men and 16-59 for women) was 74.8% for the three months to June, down 0.1% on the previous quarter, but up 0.3% over the year.
The number of people in employment over the same period was 29.56 million, up 20,000 over the three months to March, and up 384,000 on the previous year.
The claimant count in July 2008 was 864,700, up 20,100 on the previous month, and an increase of 10,900 over the year. The claimant count rate was 2.7%, up 0.1 of a percentage point on the previous month. It has risen across all regions of the UK.
There were 634,900 vacancies for the three months to July 2008, down 47,400 on the previous quarter, and 23,200 over the year. Most sectors experienced reductions in the number of vacancies, but the biggest falls were in distribution, hotels and restaurants (down by 17,700) and finance and business services (down 16,200).
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The rate of growth in average earnings, including bonuses, stood at 3.4% for three-month period, down 0.4 on the previous period.
The statistics also showed the redundancy level stood at 126,000 – up 14,000 over the quarter, and up 6,000 over the year.
