Unemployment falls by 20,000
The latest official figures have shown that the number of unemployed people in the UK has fallen by 20,000 in the last three months.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed that the number of unemployed people in the last three months fell to 1.47 million.
The number of people who were out of work and claiming benefit was seen to have increased by 1,700 in June to stand at 952,000.
Unemployment, using the international measure of unemployment (ILO), has fallen to 5%, the lowest figure for two years.
The employment rate increased by 0.1% in the last three months to stand at, 74.7%, the highest figure for thirteen years.
Average earnings increased by 3.4% in the year to the end of May 2003, which was an increase of 0.2 percentage points on the figure recorded in April 2003. Average earnings in manufacturing fell 0.6 percentage points whilst service sector average earnings increased by 0.4 percentage points when compared to the rates recorded in April 2003.
The ONS survey revealed that the number of job vacancies fell by 19,000 to 603,500 in the three months to the end of June 2003 when compared to the same period a year ago.
Shadow Work and Pensions Minister Oliver Heald warned the Government of complacency in respect of the figures.
‘(They) mask an underlying trend of falling private sector employment, particularly in manufacturing”, he claimed.
‘The improvement in the employment level is entirely accounted for by the growth in part-time jobs mostly in the public sector.
‘Full-time employment is actually falling, and for the fifth month in a row the number claiming Jobseekers Allowance has risen’.
