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Unemployment level in Britain lowest since 2005: official figures

Xinhua, February 16, 2017 Adjust font size:

Britain's unemployment rate has fallen to 4.8 percent, the lowest figure since 2005, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported Wednesday.

There are 1.60 million unemployed people, 97,000 fewer than for a year earlier. The figures show 877,000 jobseekers are men, while 720,000 women job-seekers are unemployed, both down on a year earlier.

ONS said the unemployment rate of 4.8 percent is down from 5.1 percent a year earlier. It has not been lower since July to September 2005, said the survey.

At the same time, the employment rate among working aged people, between 16 and 64, has reached 74.6 percent, the highest level since comparable records began in 1971, added ONS.

The ONS Labor Market Report showed there are 31.84 million people in work, 302,000 more than for a year earlier.

Of men and women with jobs, 23.29 million people are working full-time, and 8.55 million people work part-time.

Of the total number in work, 5.44 million people are employed in the public sector for September 2016. This was 12,000 more than the figure for June 2016, but 10,000 fewer than for a year earlier. The increase in recent months, said ONS, is mainly due to more people employed in the National Health Service (NHS) and in the education sector.

Commenting on today's labor market figures, ONS senior statistician David Freeman said: "Continued moderate growth in employment has led to a new high in the total employment rate, while the rate for women has reached 70 percent for the first time on record. Overall, the labor market appears to be edging towards full capacity." Endit