UK Unemployment Rate Drops To Lowest In Decades

Unemployment rate in the UK dropped down to 4.4 percent, its lowest since the mid-1970s, according to the country’s Office for National Statistics.

Data released by the ONS shows that unemployment in the quarter ending in June was down by 57,000 on the previous three months at 1,484,000. Employment was up by 125,000 at 32.1 million in the three months to June, the highest since modern records began in 1971.

Real earnings fell by 0.5%, owing to the rate of inflation at 2.6 percent, the ONS figures showed.

“The employment picture remains strong, with a new record high employment rate and another fall in the unemployment rate. Despite the strong jobs picture, however, real earnings continue to decline,” said Office for National Statistics senior labour market statistician Matt Hughes.

“The number of workers born elsewhere in the EU continues to increase, but the annual rate of change has slowed markedly,” he added.

The number of those employed on zero hours contracts as their main job fell 20,000 compared to a year earlier to 883,000 people.