adminunemployed people fell 82 000 to 2,5 million in the three months to October, compared with the figure for the three months to July, the Office for National Statistics said.
That was the biggest quarterly drop since the spring of 2001.
The ONS also revealed that the number of people in work has struck a new record high, jumping by 40 000 to 29,6 million people over the same period.
Despite the upbeat figures, British Prime Minister David Cameron cautioned that long-term unemployment remained “stubbornly high”.
“Obviously, there is no room for complacency — there are still far too many people who are long-term unemployed,” Cameron told parliament in his weekly question-and-answer session.
“But in these figures we can see 40 000 more people in work, vacancies are up, unemployment is down by 82 000 and the claimant count is down.”
Britain’s unemployment rate meanwhile stood at 7,8 percent in the three months to the end of October, according to the ONS.
The rate was unchanged from the level in the three months to September, but marked a decrease from 8 percent in the three months to July.
The numbers claiming jobless benefits slid 3 000 in November to 1,58 million people, compared with October.
ING economist James Knightley said: “The UK jobs report shows some reasonably encouraging newsflow on the labour market.”
“The fact that UK employment is rising, consumer confidence is up and anecdotal evidence of retail
sales have not been too bad, offers some hope that
the domestic situation in the UK is stabilising.” — AFP.
Online Reporter