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UK unemployment rate at lowest since 2009 | UK unemployment rate at lowest since 2009 |
(35 minutes later) | |
The UK unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level since 2009, official figures show. | |
At 7.4%, this is the lowest rate since the February-to-April period in 2009, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. | |
This compares with a figure of 7.6% for the three months to September, and is below the rate analysts had expected. | This compares with a figure of 7.6% for the three months to September, and is below the rate analysts had expected. |
The number of people out of work fell by 99,000 to 2.39 million in the three months to October, the ONS said. | |
Employment minister Esther McVey told the BBC: "When people said unemployment would rise, when they said there would be a double dip economy, that did not happen. The reverse has happened. | |
"So it's tough, it's slow, but we're going in the right direction." | |
David Tinsley, UK economist at BNP Paribas said the UK labour market was "showing spectacular strength." | |
Record low | |
The Bank of England has said it will not consider raising interest rates from their record low of 0.5% until the unemployment rate falls to 7%. | The Bank of England has said it will not consider raising interest rates from their record low of 0.5% until the unemployment rate falls to 7%. |
But even then, governor Mark Carney has said an interest rate increase is not guaranteed. | But even then, governor Mark Carney has said an interest rate increase is not guaranteed. |
The ONS data also showed that the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in November fell by 36,700 to 1.27 million. | |
The number of people aged 16 and over who are in work was 30.09 million, up 250,000 compared with May to July period. | |
But the percentage of public sector workers - 18.8% of those in employment, or 5.7 million people - fell to its lowest rate since the current data series began in 1999. | |
Living standards | |
Average weekly earnings growth, including bonuses, picked up by 0.9% in the three months to October compared with a year earlier, the ONS said, a slight improvement on the three months to September. | |
Excluding bonuses, pay grew by 0.8%. | Excluding bonuses, pay grew by 0.8%. |
But this is still well below the level of inflation - currently running at 2.1% - meaning that people's living standards are still falling in real terms. |