UK Unemployment Falls to Lowest since 2008

UK unemployment has fallen to its lowest rate since July 2008, official figures have shown.

The number of jobless people dropped by 76,000 to 1.84 million in the three months to February, the Office for National Statistics said on Friday.

That means the unemployment rate has fallen to 5.6%, in line with forecasts.

Average weekly earnings in the three months to February, excluding bonuses, rose by 1.8% compared with the same period a year earlier.

Growth was slightly lower than the rate in January. When bonuses are included, weekly earnings rose by 1.7%.

The number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance in March fell by 20,700 to 772,400, the ONS said.
Martin Beck, senior economic advisor to the EY ITEM Club, said: “The story of the UK labour market has long been a ‘jobs-rich’ but ‘pay-poor’ one. The latest numbers are no exception with good news for those looking for work, but less so for those already in employment.”

Samuel Tombs, senior UK economist at Capital Economics, said the UK’s “employment miracle shows no signs of drawing to a close” and expected the jobless rate to continue falling further in the coming months.

via BBC

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.