Figures out today (March 19) from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that the unemployment rate held steady at 7.2 per cent in the three months to January.<\/p>\n
According to the ONS, the number of people out of work fell by 63,000 to 2.33 million and the number of people in employment rose to a record total of 30.19 million. There was also good news for young people, as the number of unemployed 16 to 24-year-olds dropped to 912,000, the lowest level since 2011.<\/p>\n
There were quite big regional variations, with the employment rate highest in the South East at 76.4 per cent and lowest in the North East at 68.2 per cent. By contrast, the unemployment rate was highest in the North East at 9.5 per cent and lowest in the South East, at only 5.2 per cent.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, average earnings were up 1.4 per cent on the same time last year, a bigger rise than expected, with wage growth in January alone up 1.7 per cent, hot on the heels of inflation, which is running at 1.9 per cent.<\/p>\n
Interestingly, average pay, including bonus payments, in the private sector was \u00a3475 a week, \u00a317 a week lower than the public sector figure of \u00a3492 a week. However, excluding publicly owned financial corporations, average weekly pay in the public sector was only \u00a36 a week higher than for the private sector, at \u00a3481 a week.<\/p>\n
The figures will come as a boost to Chancellor George Osborne as he prepares to deliver his Budget this afternoon, as he has been criticised of late because prices have outstripped wage rises and opponents have repeatedly made reference to the \u201ccost of living crisis\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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