Employment
Rate falls to 74.4% in 3 months to Jan 2007
The trends in both the employment rate and the unemployment rate are flat. There has been a further fall in the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance benefit. The trend in the inactivity rate may have started to rise. The number of job vacancies has increased. Growth in average earnings excluding bonuses has decreased while growth in average earnings including bonuses has increased.
The employment rate for people of working age was 74.4 per cent for the three months ending in January 2007, down 0.1 both from the previous quarter and on the year.
The number of people in employment for the three months ending in January 2007 was 29.02 million, up 18,000 over the quarter and up 221,000 over the year. The quarterly increase in employment is largely due to more men in full-time employment. Total hours worked per week were 929.6 million, up 3.4 million over the quarter and up 4.5 million over the year.
The number of jobs increased by 88,000 over the quarter and by 306,000 over the year to reach 31.58 million in December 2006, the highest figure since comparable records began in 1959.
The unemployment rate was 5.5 per cent, unchanged on the quarter but up 0.4 over the year. The number of unemployed people fell by 3,000 over the quarter but increased by 151,000 over the year, to reach 1.69 million.
TAKEN FROM : NATIONAL STATISTICS
