The number of people claiming jobless benefit in Britain fell less than expected last month, but the number of people in work recorded its biggest rise since 1989 in the three months to June, official data showed today.
The Office for National Statistics said the number of people claiming jobless benefit fell by 3,800 in July, after a downwardly revised drop of 15,900 in June and well below analysts' forecasts for a decline of 16,500.
However, the number of people without a job on the wider ILO measure fell by 49,000 in the three months to June, its biggest fall in three years and taking the total to 2.457 million. That took the jobless rate to 7.8 per cent in line with forecasts.
And the number of people in work rose by 184,000 in the three months to June, the biggest rise since 1989. The ONS said that was mainly due to a 115,000 rise in part-time workers. The number of people in full-time work rose by 68,000.
The figures suggest the labour market is continuing to recover steadily, although the pace of improvement is unlikely to be maintained once government spending cuts, which are expected to result in more than half a million public sector job cuts, kick in.
Average weekly earnings growth slowed less than expected in the three months to June to 1.3 per cent from 2.7 per cent in the three months to May, the lowest rate since January.
The employment and activity figures in today's data were calculated to reflect the rise in the state pension age for women to 65 from 60 years over the next ten years.
The ONS said the change had resulted in a reduction in the employment rate of around 2 percentage points over the series.
Reuters