Unemployment falls to 5.7%

Unemployment has fallen to 5.7%, with almost twice as many unemployed men finding jobs than women, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.

The percentage of people in work between November and January was the highest since comparable records began in 1971.

For the three months ending January 2015, there were 1.86 million unemployed people. This was 102,000 fewer than for August to October 2014 and 479,000 fewer than for a year earlier.  There were 1.02 million unemployed men, 67,000 fewer than for August to October 2014 and 264,000 fewer than for a year earlier, and 831,000 unemployed women, 34,000 fewer than for August to October 2014 and 216,000 fewer than for a year earlier.

The proportion who were economically inactive, such as house husbands and wives, was little changed on figures for the previous quarter. The number of people who had been unemployed for more than a year fell more significantly than those who were unemployed for shorter periods.

Pay for employees increased by 1.8% including bonuses and by 1.6% excluding bonuses.

ONS says the unemployment rate for the European Union (EU) was 9.8% in January, with the highest unemployment rates in Greece (25.8%) and Spain (23.4%) and the lowest in Germany (4.7%) and Austria (4.8%). The unemployment rate for the United States was 5.7% for January 2015 and 5.5% for February 2015.

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