Fall In Unemployment Of 0.2%

The unemployment rate for July to September was 7.6% down 0.2% from April to June 2013 according to figures from the ONS. There were 2.47m people unemployed down 48,000 from April to June and from a year earlier. There were 378,000 more people in employment and 149,000 fewer economically inactive people.

In terms of public and private employment, there were 5.67m people employed in the public sector (19%) and 24.17m people employed in the private sector (81%). There were 1.55m people employed in the NHS, 1.08m people employed in public administration, 1.48m people employed in education and 433,000 people employed in HM Forces.

There were 32.49 workforce jobs (filled jobs) in the economy in June 2013. There were 545,000 job vacancies for August to October 2013. There were 2 vacancies for every 100 employee jobs for August to October 2013.

Total pay averaged £475/week and regular pay was £447/week in September 2013 and between July and September 2013 total pay rose by 0.7% and regular pay by 0.8%.

By duration of unemployment 1.15m people have been unemployed for up to six months and 458,000 have been unemployed for over 2 years up 16,000 over the year.

Estimates Show Decrease In GDP

The preliminary estimates of GDP published by the Office for National Statistics show that GDP has decreased by 0.8% in the second quarter of 2009 compared to Q1. The decline was due to noticeable decreases in all component aggregates. Manufacturing has decreased by 0.3% which is an improvement on the last few quarters and production in total is estimated to have decreased by 0.7%. Total services have decreased by 0.6%. The decrease in business services and finance was 0.7% compared with 2.5% in the last quarter. They contributed most to the decline in total output. Output in the construction industry decreased by 2.2% compared with 6.9% in the last quarter. Decreases in other measured sectors were in distribution, hotels and restaurants 0.5% this quarter compared with 1.5% in the last, transport, storage and communication 2.1% compared to 3%, government and other services decreased by 0.2% compared with an increase of 0.2% in the last quarter. The biggest contributor to the decrease was public administration and defence. The agricultural sector decreased by 2.3% compared to 0.1% in the last quarter.