| In the last three months of 2007, unemployment dropped by 61,000 to 1.61 million across the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Unemployment fell in 8 of 12 regions in the UK, with the West Midlands seeing the greatest decrease; down 22,000 to 151,000.
However, London and Northern Ireland both saw slight increases in unemployment. It rose by 16,000 to hit 259,000 in the capital, and from 31,000 to 34,000 in Northern Ireland.
The number of people applying for jobseekers’ allowance also fell by 10,800 in January this year, and now stands at 794,600.
Economists are not expecting the labour market to feel the effects of a slowing economy for the next 6 months. |
