The rate of UK unemployment between April and June has dropped by 0.2% to 2.56 million.
The latest statistics from the Office for National Statistics for the quarterly period revealed the number of people without a job fell by 46,000. The employment rate for individuals aged 16- to 64 years old was up by 0.4% to 29.48 million – an increase of 201,000 people.
Analysts have suggested that the boost in the number of employed people has been because of the Olympic Games, as London was marked as one of the top regions for hiring during the quarter. The capital accounted for 42,000 individuals in the drop in unemployment.
Total pay, including bonuses, was also lifted by 1.6% compared to the previous year, and saw a 0.1% rise for the three months to May 2012. Regular pay, excluding bonuses, was up 1.8% on a year earlier, but remained flat for the same quarterly period to May.
Those working part-time hit an all-time high between April and June to 1.42 million, an increase of 16,000 people, which is the highest level since records began in 1992. But the youth unemployment figure still remains over the one million mark.
Iain Duncan Smith, work and pensions secretary, said: “The robustness of these figures is good news. The work we’re doing through the youth contract and through the work programme and through work experience should be supported by people like the trade unions and the Labour Party instead of being carped at by them, which is what they do the whole time.”
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