Unemployment figures fall to lowest level since 1975

The number of people
claiming unemployment benefit has fallen again and is at its lowest level since
1975.

The unemployment claimant count for May was
944,600, down 7,000 from April and is the lowest total since the autumn of 1975.

According to the Office for National
Statistics, the number of people in work reached a record

28.4 million in the three months to April,
after an increase of 88,000 over the quarter.

The Government-preferred International Labour
Organisation unemployment figure, which includes people not eligible for
employment-related benefits, increased by 19,000 to 1,554,000 over the same
period.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

Email(Required)

OptOut

From time to time, we will send you emails about selected products, events and services from Personnel Today and OHW+ - but you can choose to opt-out at any time. If you do not wish to receive these emails, please tick this box.

Phone

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ

Average earnings increased by 3.3 per cent in
the year to April, up by 0.4 per cent from the previous month. Public sector
earnings increased by at 4.1 per cent – compared with 3.1 per cent in private
firms.

By Ben Willmott