14 January 2004, 13:57  UK jobless remains at 28-yr low in Dec

UK unemployment remained at a 28 year low in December, with the claimant count measure falling 8,300 to 908,200, according to figures released today by National Statistics (NS). The fall was larger than expected. Analysts had expected claimant count unemployment to fall 5,000, following the upwardly revised 9,200 drop in November. The claimant count unemployment rate in December remained at 3.0pc for the third successive month. This was also the lowest rate for claimant count unemployment since June 1975 when the rate stood at 2.8pc.
The broader ILO measure showed unemployment falling too, showing a 29,000 decline to 1.460 million in the three months to November from the previous three months. It was down 36,000 on the same period a year ago. The ILO unemployment rate in the three months to November fell 0.1 percentage point to 4.9pc, the joint lowest rate since records began in 1984. A similar rate was seen in the three months to May 2001. Findings of the latest labour force survey (LFS) revealed that total employment rose by 41,000 to a record 28.149 million in the three months to November//www.fxcentre.com

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