UK unemployment falls again

UK unemployment in the three months to October fell by 63,000 to 1.96 million, official figures show.

The fall was the slowest quarterly fall for a year, leading some analysts to speculate that the rate of improvement may have peaked.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the jobless rate was 6%, matching its lowest level in six years.

On a quarterly basis, average earnings excluding bonuses grew by 1.6%. Including bonuses they rose by 1.4%.

For a long time, earnings growth had been lagging the inflation rate, but in the last quarter it overtook inflation for the first time in five years, and the latest figures show that

gain has been extended.

On Tuesday, figures showed the UK's rate of inflation down to a 12-year low of 1%.

Earlier on BBC Radio 5 the Bank of England's deputy governor, Jon Cunliffe, said UK inflation in the coming months "is going to be low".

"Earnings growth is finally starting to open a clear positive gap over inflation, which is serious good news for consumers," said Howard Archer, economist at IHS Global Insight.

"This bodes well for consumer spending in 2015, although it needs to be borne in mind that consumers have faced a prolonged squeeze on their purchasing power.

"Meanwhile, the labour market is still seeing decent improvement, although the underlying rate of improvement is showing signs of moderation," he added.

In a tweet, Prime Minister David Cameron said: "Employment is at a record high & average earnings are rising faster than inflation. More to do, but our long term economic plan is working."

The ONS figures show that there were 30.80 million people in work in the three month period, 115,000 more than for the May to July period.

The number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in November fell by 26,900 to 900,100.

BBC Business