Largest fall in unemployment since records began

Unemployment has seen the largest annual fall since records began over 40 years ago. The number of unemployed people is now below two million for the first time since 2008, figures published today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show.

In the largest annual fall since the 1970s there are now over half a million fewer unemployed people than there were a year ago. The unemployment rate has also fallen again - to 6% - a new 6-year low. This compares to an unemployment rate of 7.7% just a year ago. Over the last year every single region and nation in the UK has seen a fall in unemployment.

There are now a record 30.76 million people in work. Compared to 2010 there are over two million more people in private sector jobs – more than the total number of people currently unemployed. 

Young people (18-24) saw the largest annual fall in unemployment since records began – falling by over a quarter of a million since last year. Excluding those in full-time education, there are now 468,000 unemployed young people. This is down by nearly a third compared to last year and lower than just before the recession.

The number of young people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance fell again, for the 34th month in a row. There are now fewer young JSA claimants than at any time in two generations – having dropped by 123,000 in the past year.

There are record numbers of women in work with the UK having seen the fastest growth in the number of women in work in the last year out of all G7 economies. Of those women working part-time, nearly 90% have chosen to work part-time because it suits them. The proportion of women working part-time who want full-time work (12.6%) is falling, down 41,000 over the last year.

Job vacancies rose again, up 130,000 over the past year bringing the number of vacancies in the UK economy to 674,000.

Wages excluding bonuses were up 0.9% on the year, with private sector wages rising faster - at 1.2% - than the public sector. The financial services sector saw bonuses fall by 5%.