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Unemployment falls by 37,000

Employment rose slightly between September and November 2012, data from the Office for National Statistics shows.

The total of number of jobless fell by 37,000 to 2.49m during the period, representing the lowest level in 18 months.

The number of people employed in the public sector fell by 24,000 on the previous month while employment in the private sector rose 65,000 on the previous month.

Youth unemployment rose by 1,000 to 957,000 although a rise in the number of young people going into full-time education reduced the number of “economically inactive” 16-24 year-olds.

Nick Bunting, CEO of The Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise (The Prince’s Initiative), said: “We welcome the news that there was an increase of people in employment, which will hopefully give the UK economy a much-needed boost.

“Nonetheless, when you take a closer look at the number of those claiming Job Seekers Allowance (JSA), a different picture emerges.

“The number of people aged between 50 and the state pension-age who are claiming JSA has not only increased compared to last month but there has also been a rise of 3.94% compared to this time last year. This is in stark comparison to those claiming JSA aged between 18 and 24 where the number has in-fact gone down.

“Mature people can make an important contribution to help revive the UK economy and we would like to see more effort made to provide the over 50s with the right training and options that are afforded to their younger counterparts.”

Spencer Thompson, economist at think tank IPPR, said: “The overall fall in unemployment and large rise in employment in today’s statistics is very good news, showing the UK labour market’s ability to create jobs even at a time of great economic uncertainty.

“We should not be complacent, however. The fact that youth unemployment has stopped falling after several months is worrying. It is also concerning that there was only a small fall in long-term unemployment.

“The outlook is especially bleak for young people and the long-term unemployed this year. Hundreds of thousands are at risk of permanent ‘scarring’ in the labour market: having their long-term outlook damaged by long periods of unemployment or by a difficult and patchy relationship with the world of work.”

Kevin Green, Chief Executive of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), said: “It would be easy to get distracted by recent headlines around the big high street names such as Comet, HMV and Jessops going under, but the fact remains that the UK jobs market is continuing to improve, the overall trend is one of job creation and we are outperforming our European neighbours.

“Recruiters are right there at the front line of the jobs market and the regular feedback they give us is that employers continue to hire. Small businesses don’t make national headlines but they are where the majority of job creation is going to come from.”

The largest decrease in unemployment was in the North East, although the region still has the highest rate at 9.1%. The ONS considerable increases in employment were noted in the West Midlands, Yorkshire and Humber.

Ted Salmon, North East Regional Chairman, Federation of Small Businesses, said: “It is great news to see that employment across the North East has grown by 52,000 in the past year and that that the number of unemployed continues to fall across the region.

“What we need to see is support for these people, through mentoring and financial assistance where needed so their businesses can succeed and they can look to create jobs.

“Although it is good news that long-term unemployment is falling, a growing number of these people have gone onto Government supported training and jobs programmes and are no longer classed as unemployed in the figures. It is vital these people go on to find a job.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .