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UK unemployment falls to 1.49 million
UK unemployment has fallen by 64,000 to 1.49 million, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows.
The unemployment rate fell by 0.2 per cent in the three months in May to its lowest since 1975, at 4.5 per cent, the statistics found.
Wage increases, however, continued to fall further behind inflation. Earnings rose by 2.0 per cent year-on-year, excluding bonuses. But inflation had hit a four-year high of 2.9 per cent in May.
Factoring in the impact of inflation, real weekly wages are shown to have fallen by 0.5 per cent compared with the previous year.
Matt Hughes, senior statistician at the ONS, said: “Despite the strong jobs picture there has been another real-terms fall in total earnings, with the growth in weekly wages low and inflation still rising.
“The general picture is little changed on last month, with the overall employment rate and that for women both at record highs, the inactivity rate at a joint record low and the unemployment rate falling to its lowest since early summer 1975.”
The unemployment rate for 16 to 24-year-olds was 12.5 per cent, lower than the previous year’s 13.5 per cent, and much lower than its highest rate of 22.5 per cent at the end of 2011.
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