UK Unemployment Rises for the First Time in 2 Years
It has been reported that 1.85 million people were unemployed in the March to May period of 2015, an increase of 15,000 from the previous quarter, with the jobless rate at 5.6%. However, the pace of pay rises continued to pick up.
Average weekly earnings including bonuses rose at an annual pace of 3.2% in the latest 3 month period – the fastest rate in 5 years.
Pay excluding bonuses rose by 2.8%, which was the highest pace since February 2009.
The number of people claiming unemployment related benefit in June rose by 7,000 to 804,200.
Figures show that there were 30.98 million people in work in the March to May quarter – down 67,000 from the previous 3 month period and the first quarterly fall since April 2013.
The employment rate is currently highest in the South West of the UK at 77.4% and lowest in Northern Ireland at 67.9%.
It is possible that the rate of improvement in the labour market that we have seen over the last 3 years may have eased off .
These figures are a reminder that our recovery is still fragile and further measures are needed to nurture economic growth, in particular by encouraging businesses to invest and export.
Source: BBC News
