Unemployment falls by 34,000
UNEMPLOYMENT has fallen by 34,000 to 2.47m, official figures have shown.
The figure was expected to hit 2.5m in June, but an increase in part-time workers helped to bring the total down.
Minister for work and pensions Chris Grayling said a continued economic recovery depended on supporting british business, which would in turn create job opportunities.
He added: “There is still a huge amount of work to do to revitalise the economy and create an environment where businesses are growing and employing people again.
“What concerns me in today’s figures is that while there are more jobs in the economy there is too little evidence of them being taken up by the five million people who were stranded on out-of-work benefits under the previous Government.
“While there are fewer people on Jobseeker’s Allowance this month, the numbers claiming other benefits remains stubbornly high, and many of these people have been dependent on benefits for years. That’s why we are pressing ahead with the Work Programme to give these people the support they need when they need it.”
Meanwhile some analysts urged caution over the fall in the jobless rate.
Howard Archer of Global Insight said: “Unemployment may very well continue to fall in the near term, but there is a very real danger that it will start to head back up later this year and then increase in 2011.
“Major job losses are on the way in the public sector as the government slashes spending, and we doubt that the private sector will be able to fully compensate for this.”