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British unemployment rate drops to 5.7 pct in Dec.

Xinhua, February 18, 2015 Adjust font size:

British unemployment rate fell to 5.7 percent in the three-month to December 2014, lower than that of a year earlier (7.2 percent), and registering the lowest level since mid 2008, data showed by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Wednesday.

The unemployment rate is in tune with the market estimation consensus.

There were 1.86 million unemployed people in the fourth quarter of 2014, down by 97,000 from the third quarter of 2014, and 486,000 less than a year earlier, data showed.

The employment rate for those aged from 16 to 64 in the fourth quarter was 73.2 percent, higher than the previous quarter's 73.0 percent and that of a year earlier (72.0 percent), figures showed.

There were 30.90 million people in employment aged 16 and over, 103,000 more than for July to September and 608,000 more than for a year earlier, said the statistics department of the government.

In the same period, British employees' total pay was 2.1 percent higher than a year earlier. Pay excluding bonuses for employees was 1.7 percent higher, noted ONS.

Latest figure showed that British consumer prices index (CPI) grew merely by 0.3 percent in the year to January 2015.

Claims for unemployment benefit, however, fell by 38,600 to totally 823,000 in January 2015 from the previous month. Compared with a year earlier, it was down by 383,500, data also showed. Endit