UK unemployment falls to lowest level for 27 years

UK
unemployment has fallen to its lowest level for 27 years. The number of people
unemployed and claiming benefit fell by 6,000 to 939,600 in March, according to
the Office for National Statistics said. The jobless rate of 3.1 per cent is
the lowest figure since 1975.

The
claimant count is 45,000 lower than it was a year ago, with significant drops
in January, February and March.

"We
are not immune to the world’s economic difficulties, but over the last year
employment has grown and unemployment has fallen," said the UK’s minister
for work, Nick Brown.

During
the December to February period, the total number of people in work rose to its
highest level since records begun in 1979. A 
rise of 30,000 brought the number of people working to 28.4 million.

Average
earnings increased by 1.9 per cent in the year to February – a fall of 1 per
cent from the previous month, and the lowest figure since records began in
1991.

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Earnings
grew by 1.3 per cent in private firms in the year to February, compared with
4.7 per cent in the public sector.

By Quentin Reade