Unemployment falls

Unemployment has fallen this quarter, according to the Office of National Statistics, 2.46 million people were unemployed in the September to November quarter, down by 7 thousand on the June to August period and up 511 thousand on the same quarter last year.

The government welcomed the figures but warned that the jobless total was still expected to rise again before the summer.

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Yvette Cooper, said:

“The jobs market is still tough for a lot of people, but the drop in unemployment and youth unemployment is very welcome. It means 450,000 fewer people are out of work than everyone expected last spring. The extra investment in jobs, education and training is making a real difference, helping people through the recession and preventing the kind of unemployment we saw in the eighties and nineties.”

“However we know that things will still be difficult and unemployment is still likely to rise over the next few months. That is why we are determined to keep increasing the help and support to get people into jobs and training.”

Minster for Employment Jim Knight, said:

“These figures show the largest number of people coming off unemployment benefit for 15 years which is a sign that our £5bn investment to get people back to work is having an impact. The fact that tens of thousands more young people are taking up the Government’s guarantee of a place in education or training means that they are getting the valuable skills they need to get into work.”

“New figures published today show that more than 25,000 people have benefited from the new Six Month Offer, while the sixth round of winning Future Jobs Fund bidders will create almost 6,000 more jobs for young people. This brings the total number of successful bids to create jobs through the Fund so far to almost 104,000. This is in addition to more than 400,000 people who have been helped into jobs through the Job Centres’ Local Employment Partnerships.”