UK unemployment at lowest level for a year

Unemployment in the UK has fallen to its lowest level for a year after a big jump in the number of people in work, new figures showed today.

The jobless total fell by 46,000 in the quarter to June to 2.56 million, an unemployment rate of 8%.

The number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance last month was 1.59 million, down by 5,900 on June, said the Office for National Statistics.

Most of the quarterly fall in unemployment was recorded in London, suggesting a big jobs boost from the Olympic Games.

Other figures showed that the number of part-time workers has reached a record high of 8.07 million while those working part-time because they cannot find a full-time job is 1.42 million, the highest figure since records began in 1992.

Average earnings increased by 1.6% in the year to June, up by 0.1% on the previous month.

The number of people in work increased by 201,000 to almost 30 million, the highest since last summer, with half of the rise coming in London.

Youth unemployment fell by 4,000 to just over a million.

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said: "These are positive and encouraging figures demonstrating the strength of our private sector - notwithstanding the difficult economic times it is still creating jobs, the vast majority of which are full time. Unemployment is falling and the claimant count is down."

Unemployment has fallen for five consecutive quarters, while the so-called claimant count was down for the first time since April.

But there was an increase of 1,600 in the number of women claiming jobseeker's allowance to 530,000, compared with a 7,500 fall among men, to just over a million.

The number of people classed as economically inactive, including those looking after a sick relative, on early retirement, or who have given up looking for work, fell by 117,000 to 9.1 million, just over 22% of the working age population.

Around 150,000 people were made redundant in the three months to June, down by 21,000 from the quarter to March and 4,000 lower than a year ago.

Sectors showing the biggest increase in jobs in recent months included wholesale, retail and motor vehicle repairs.

There were 472,000 vacancies across the country in the quarter to July, up by 10,000 on the three months to April, and 16,000 more than a year ago.