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| Unemployment drops by 52,000 but jobless rate stays at same level | Unemployment drops by 52,000 but jobless rate stays at same level |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| UK unemployment fell by 52,000 in the three months to August to 1.4 million, leaving the jobless rate unchanged at 4.3% from the previous quarter - still at the lowest level since 1975. | UK unemployment fell by 52,000 in the three months to August to 1.4 million, leaving the jobless rate unchanged at 4.3% from the previous quarter - still at the lowest level since 1975. |
| However, pay still failed to keep pace with inflation, with the real value of earnings down 0.3% over the past year. | |
| Total earnings, excluding bonuses, rose by 2.1% from June to August. | |
| The claimant count increased by 1,700 to 804,100 last month, said the Office for National Statistics. | The claimant count increased by 1,700 to 804,100 last month, said the Office for National Statistics. |
| The UK's key inflation rate rose to 3% in September. | The UK's key inflation rate rose to 3% in September. |
| There were 32.1 million people in work in the UK in the three-month period, 94,000 more than in the previous three-month period and 317,000 more than in the same period in 2016. | |
| The employment rate was 75.1%, up from 74.5% a year earlier, while the total number of unemployed people was 215,000 fewer than at the same time last year. | |
| The robust performance of the jobs market is likely to increase expectations that the Bank of England will raise interest rates at its next meeting on 2 November. | |
| However, Kathleen Brooks of traders City Index said the Bank faced a tricky decision next month. | |
| "The prospect of raising interest rates when real wages are in negative territory will make this potential hike a tricky one for the Bank to justify," she said. | |
| Employment Minister Damian Hinds said: "Our economy is helping to create full-time, permanent jobs which are giving people across the UK the chance of securing a reliable income. | |
| "We've boosted the income for people on the lowest pay by increasing the national living wage and delivered the fastest pay rise for the lowest earners in 20 years." | |
| 'Struggling families' | |
| Senior ONS statistician Matt Hughes said: "Many labour market measures continue to strengthen. Employment growth in the latest three-month period was driven mainly by women, with a corresponding drop in inactivity. Vacancies remain robust, at a near-record level." | |
| TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady expressed concern at the continuing fall in the real value of wages. | |
| "Britain desperately needs a pay rise," she said. "Working people are earning less today (in real terms) than a decade ago. | |
| "The chancellor must help struggling families when he gives his Budget next month. This means ditching the artificial pay restrictions on nurses, midwives and other public sector workers. And investing in jobs that people can live on." | |
| Find out if your wages are keeping up with inflation | |
| Enter your details below. Source: Office for National Statistics. |