Labour figures marginally better than expected
The latest official labour market figures released today (12 November) from the Office for National Statistics showed there were 2.86 million employee jobs in manufacturing industries in the three months to September 2008, down 55,000 on a year earlier.
Across the broader economy the figures were slightly better than had been predicted in some quarters, even though unemployment rose to 1.82 million in the three months to September, the highest figure recorded since 1997 and up 140,000 from the three months to June 2008 and up 182,000 from a year earlier.
The number of people claiming benefit was 980,900, up 36,500 from the previous month. The number of vacancies was 589,000, down 40,000 from the previous quarter.
