Jobless queues get a little shorter

Under the Labour Force Survey count, unemployment fell by 50,000 to 2.53 million in the three-month period ending August. The unemployment rate is also down to 7.9% from 8.1%.

The number of jobless men dropped to 1.44 million and their unemployment rate is down to 8.3% from 8.5%. Unemployed women’s numbers fell by 19,000 to 1.08 million. Their unemployment rate is down to 7.3% from 7.5%.

Unemployment among 16- to 24-year-olds fell by 62,000 to 957,000, the first time in a year that it has fallen below the million mark. Their unemployment rate fell by 1.3 percentage points to 20.5%, but it still means one in five young people are without a job.

On the other main jobless measure — the claimant count, which only includes those on Jobseeker’s Allowance — unemployment fell by 4,000 to over 1.56 million in September. The number of male claimants fell to 1.03 million but their joblessness rate is steady at 5.9%. However, women benefit claimants rose by 3,600 to 532,500, although their joblessness rate remains at 3.5%.

The largest portion of claimants is men aged 25 to 64, with 576,400, accounting for 36.8% of all claimants. The second largest is women in the same age group accounting for 299,000 claimants or one in five (19.1%).