Slide into unemployment slows

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show there were 2.61 million jobs in the country's manufacturing industries in the three months to October 2009, down 222,000 on a year earlier. However, the quarterly increase in unemployment is the smallest since spring 2008, with the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance falling and a slight increase in the number of job vacancies. The employment rate for August to October 2009 was 72.5 per cent, unchanged on the quarter. The number of people in employment increased by 53,000 on the quarter to reach 28.93 million. The number of women in part-time employment increased by 122,000 on the quarter to reach a record high of 5.84 million, but the number of men in part-time employment was unchanged and there were quarterly falls in the numbers of both men and women in full-time employment. There were just over one million employees and self-employed people working part-time because they could not find a full-time job. This is the highest figure since records for this series began in 1992 and it is up 34,000 on the quarter. The unemployment rate for August to October 2009 was 7.9 per cent, unchanged on the quarter. The number of unemployed people increased by 21,000 over the quarter to reach 2.49 million, the highest figure since the three months to March 1995. However, this is the smallest quarterly increase in the number of unemployed people since March-May 2008.