Personal Finance special
Unemployment takes a nose dive
18 January, 2007
Figures released yesterday by Jim Murphy, the Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform, showed a rise in employment rates, a fall in the claimant court and a fall in ILO unemployment
Employment is up 274,000 on the year and 14,000 in the last quarter, with the number on Jobseeker’s Allowance falling by 5,500 to a new total of 943,100 in December last year.
The number of people on other main benefits also continues to fall, with those on incapacity benefits dropping by 54,000 in the year to May – its lowest level over the past 6 years.
Encouragingly, over the past 10 years the total number of people claiming out of work benefits (this includes Jobseeker’s Allowance, incapacity benefits and lone parents benefits) is down by 900,000.
Murphy comments: “This is welcome news. Reforms to the welfare state mean more people have been looking for work and more people are taking up jobs.
“The UK already has the highest employment rate of the G8, but we are determined to reach our long-term aim of an 80 per cent employment rate and to break the cycle of poverty and benefit dependency for good.”
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