Unemployment remains at 40-year low

Unemployment has remained at 4.3 per cent, the lowest rate since 1975, official figures show.

The figures, released by the Office for National Statistics, also show that employment remains at a near record high, with 32 million people in work.

Increases in full-time and permanent work are behind the figures. In the last year the number of people on zero hours contracts has fallen by 20,000.

The figures also show that: the number of people in employment has increased by more than three million since 2010; the UK has the third highest employment rate in the G7; the number of workers aged over 50 has almost reached 10 million; youth unemployment has fallen by over 40 per cent since 2010; there are a near 780,000 vacancies in the economy at any one time; and the proportion of young people who are unemployed and not in full time education remains below five per cent.

Damian Hinds, Minister for Employment, said: “The strength of the economy is driving an increase in full-time, permanent jobs and a near-record number of people are now in work thanks to the government’s welfare reforms. When unemployment fell to five per cent early last year, many people thought it couldn’t get much lower, and yet it now stands at 4.3 per cent. Everyone should be given the opportunity to find work and enjoy the stability of a regular pay packet. We’ve cut income tax for 30 million people since 2010, meaning people keep more of their money each month.”