Unemployment benefit claims fall for first time in two years
December 16, 2009 by admin
Filed under Career News and Advice
The number of people claiming unemployment benefits in Britain unexpectedly
fell for the first time in almost two years in November, in the clearest
sign yet that jobless numbers will peak below forecasts made at the onset of
the crisis.
By Angela Monaghan
Published: 7:44PM GMT 16 Dec 2009
The number claiming Jobseeker’s allowance fell by 6,300 to 1.63m, the first
monthly decline since February 2008 according to the Office for National
Statistics.
The total number of unemployed people climbed by 21,000 over the three months
to October, to reach 2.49m. It was a smaller rise than economists expected,
and the smallest quarterly increase since spring 2008.
However, it is the biggest unemployment tally in more than 14 years and takes
the unemployment rate to 7.9pc, compared with 7.8pc in the three months to
September.
Although unemployment is still rising, the rate of growth has been
significantly …
Read the original article at Telegraph