Surprise fall in UK unemployment

The number of people unemployed in the UK has fallen unexpectedly for the first time in 18 months. Total unemployment stood at 2.46 million for the three months to November, down 7 ,000 the figure for the previous three months. It ends the continuous rise in unemployment that begin in the summer of 2008 after the recession began. Ministers welcomed the figures but warned that joblessness could rise again in the coming months. The rate of unemployment now stands at 7. %, down from the 7.9 % reported last month, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. Meanwhile, the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance fell to 1.61 million in December. That is a fall of 15 ,200 over the month - significantly greater than the 2 ,500 anticipated by analysts. The number of 16-24- year-olds out of work also fell over the three-month period between September and November, down from 943 ,000 to 927 ,000. Part-time impact But the fall in unemployment was fuelled partly by an increase in people taking part- time work. The number of people in part-time employment increased by 99 ,000 over the quarter to reach a record high of 7.71 million. More than a million of these were working part-time because they could not find a full- time job - the highest figure since records began in 1992 , according to the ONS. The number of people neither employed nor looking for work - not included in unemployment figures - was up to 21.2 % of the population. That was the highest rate since August 2007. George Buckley, chief UK economist at Deutsche Bank, said workers were more willing in this recession to accept low pay and shorter hours in return for keeping their jobs, helping to stem job losses. "These figures are encouraging," he said. "In previous recessions it took years for unemployment to stop rising, but that hasn't happened this time." Mr Buckley admitted previous predictions of the unemployment rate reaching 10 % now looked unrealistic.