Growth in UK unemployment slows

The latest official UK unemployment figure has risen once again, but
the rate of increase has slowed. Unemployment increased 88 ,000 to
2.47 million in the three months to August, from the three months
to May. The jobless rate rose to 7.9 % from 7.6 %. The rise in the
number of unemployed was the lowest since July 2008 , said the Office
for National Statistics. The number of people claiming unemployment
benefit grew in September by 20 ,800 to 1.63 million. While the
number of people claiming the benefit is now the highest since 1997 ,
the rise compared with the previous month was the least since May
2008. 'Fragile recovery' Other key points from the latest official
figures revealed that: ANALYSIS By Martin Shankleman, BBC employment
correspondent Within the blizzard of statistics a clearer picture is
starting to emerge, that the outlook for UK unemployment - while bad
- may not be as dire as feared. Significantly the number of people
who claimed Jobseeker's Allowance in September showed the smallest
rise in 16 months. The level of vacancies, an important measure of
the labour market, seems to be stabilising. The government is hoping
that the raft of reforms in recent years has changed the dynamic of
the labour market, making it much more responsive to any improvement
in the economic outlook. So whereas in the past, unemployment
continued to soar, long after the recovery has started, perhaps this
time, things could be different. • The number of young unemployed
people - those aged between 16 and 24 - continued to rise, to 946
,000 in the three months to August • Men remain the most affected by
unemployment, with the number of males without work rising by 76 ,000
to 1.53 million in the three months to August • The number of women
unemployed totalled 935 ,000 , up 12 ,000 • There has been a sharp
increase in the number of women working part-time, up 79 ,000 for
the three months ending in August 2009 to a total figure of 5 ,732
,000. Nearly 10 % of these women say they are working part-time
because they can't find a full-time job • Average earnings excluding
bonuses rose by just 1.9 % in the three months to August from a year
earlier, the lowest figure on record. 'Fragile recovery' "Although
unemployment isn't as high today as many feared it would be at the
time of the Budget, it remains a serious problem, which is why we
must keep increasing support and advice to get people back into jobs,"
said Work and Pensions Secretary Yvette Cooper. Paul Kenny, general
secretary of the GMB union said the latest figures showed "some
tentative signs of a very fragile recovery in the economy". Investec
chief economist Philip Shaw said the numbers were "more encouraging
than we had hoped". "It does suggest that the pace of deterioration
in the jobs market is easing quite sharply which is encouraging for
the outlook for a sustainable recovery," he said. The latest
unemployment data comes a week before the Office for National
Statistics (ONS) releases its first estimate for how the UK economy
performed between July and September. Despite some signs of economic
improvement, analysts remain unsure as to whether the economy will
post growth and therefore exit recession. If the economy contracts
again, it will be the first time that the UK has endured six
successive quarters without economic expansion.