The number of people out of work nationally fell by 82,000 between August and October to 2.51 million, official figures have shown with the largest sector by far being the younger 16-24 year olds.
It was good news too for the North West area as the number of unemployed people and those on Jobseeker’s Allowance fell by 18,000 between August and October to 298,000. Figures may continue to fall over the next quarter as additional, temporary positions are provided for the festive season.
Minister for Work and Pensions Mark Hoban told the BBC there were “signs of a strong labour market” but there was more to be done to help people into work despite the UK unemployment rate being 7.8%, down 0.2 percentage points from the previous three months..
The Office National Statistics (ONS) said it was the biggest quarterly fall since spring 2001.
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