London, Sept. 13, (dpa-AFX/GNA) - Britain’s unemployment rate hit its lowest level in 48 years in three months to July, data published by the Office for National Statistics showed Tuesday.
The unemployment rate fell to 3.6% in three months to July, the lowest since May to July 1974.
In August, payrolled employees increased 71,000 from July, to a record 29.7 million.
In three months to July, average earnings including bonuses grew 5.5% from the last year, slightly faster than the expected 5.4%. Excluding bonuses, earnings increased 5.2% annually compared to economists’ forecast of 5%.
In three months to August, the number of job vacancies decreased 34,000 sequentially to 1,266,000. This was the largest quarterly fall since June to August 2020.
In August, the claimant count rate held steady at 3.9%. The number of people claiming unemployment benefits rose by 6,300, confounding expectations for a decline of 13,200.
GNA