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| UK unemployment rate at lowest since 2005 | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The UK unemployment rate has fallen to 5%, the lowest since October 2005, according to official figures. | |
| The unemployment total fell to 1.67 million in the February-to-April period, down 20,000 from the previous quarter, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. | |
| The number of people in work rose by 55,000, with the employment rate remaining at a record high of 74.2%. | The number of people in work rose by 55,000, with the employment rate remaining at a record high of 74.2%. |
| Earnings, excluding bonuses, rose by 2.3% compared with last year. | Earnings, excluding bonuses, rose by 2.3% compared with last year. |
| The rise was bigger than analysts had expected, and pay growth in April itself was 2.5%, which the ONS said was partly due to the introduction of the National Living Wage. | |
| The introduction of the new, compulsory National Living Wage of £7.20 an hour for workers aged 25 and above affected 1.8 million workers. | |
| Earnings including bonuses were 2% higher from year earlier, the ONS said. | |
| The number of people on the claimant count fell by just 400 in May to 746,100, although April's figure was revised higher by 6,400 as information about those claiming out-of-work benefit under the new system of Universal Credit came in. |