Unemployment in UK is at lowest rate in seven years

A report on the UK Labour Market released on Wednesday October 14 shows the unemployment rate in Britain at 5.4 per cent which represents a seven year low.

The report by the Office for National Statistics shows the 5.4 per cent rate for the three months leading up to August 2015. 

The unemployment rate is the lowest since the second quarter of 2008. From June to August this year the number of jobless people was 1.77 million, a drop of 79,000 from the previous quarter.

In those three months around 22.77 million people were in full time positions, a rise of 291,000 people in comparison to the same period in 2014. 

The report also showed 68,000 more part-time workers than the year before, a total of 8.35 million people. 

In the three months leading up to August there was a 3 per cent hike in workers’ total earnings with wage growth gathering momentum ahead of predictions earlier in the year.

Speaking on behalf of PWC, chief economist John Hawksworth said that the robust figures for employment should be reviewed as part of a bigger picture with space for improvement in manufacturing and construction and retail sales:

“We’ll probably see some slowdown in overall GDP growth in the third quarter, reflecting more uncertain global conditions, but the health of the jobs market continues to underpin the domestic economic recovery.”