Positive jobs data...

In figures released in mid-July from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), comparing March-May 2013 with the previous three months, there were more people in employment and fewer unemployed people in the UK. 

Employment was up by 16,000 to 29.71 million. This resulted in an increase in the number of people employed by 336,000 on the year. In percentage terms, 71.4% of those aged between 16-64 were in work.

Unemployment also fell by 57,000 for the quarter and by 72,000 on the year. This brought the overall figure to 2.51 million people, or 7.8%. The number of people who have been unemployed for up to twelve months also fell by 104,000, amounting to 1.59 million. However, the number of people who have been out of work for over twelve months increased by 32,000 to 915,000. This is the highest figure since 1996. Of this number 474,000 have been looking for

work for over two years, itself the highest figure since 1997.

More encouragingly, the number of people who are claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) fell by 21,200 to 1.48 million. Over the year this was down by 117,700. This is the lowest number recorded since 2011. The discrepancy in these numbers is because the claimant count only covers those receiving JSA, whilst many unemployed people are either ineligible for or do not claim the JSA. 

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