UK unemployment in fall to 2.45m

There are concerns about the impact on employment that spending cuts will bring

The number of people unemployed in the UK fell by 20,000 to 2.45 million in the three months to August.

This meant the overall UK unemployment rate fell to 7.7% from 7.8% the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

However, the figures also showed the claimant count – those out of work and receiving unemployment benefit – rose by 5,300 in September to 1.47 million.

Many economists fear unemployment will rise later in the year when government cuts begin to kick-in.

A report by accountants PwC predicts that cuts in public sector spending will have the knock-on effect of about 500,000 job losses in the private sector.

Within the UK, the jobless rate in Wales fell to 8.2% from 9.1%, in England it dropped to 7.7% from 7.8% and in Northern Ireland it fell to 7% from 7.1%.

However, in Scotland, the rate increased from 8.2% to 8.6%.

Across the UK the number of people employed increased by 178,000 in the three months to August, the ONS said.

The ONS figures also showed that average earnings in August were 1.7% higher than a year ago.

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