UK unemployment falls to 2.46 million
While unemployment in the UK fell to 2.46 million in the second quarter of 2010, an increase of 184,000 jobs over the period, things may not be as rosy as the figures might suggest. While there is no doubt that the increase in employment numbers, now standing at just over 29 million, is the largest quarterly jump since 1989 much of the increase is down to more part-time positions becoming available.
Unfortunately on the downside, the number of people claiming the jobseekers allowance is reducing slower than in the first quarter of 2010 indicating that perhaps the market is not as buoyant as it may look on the surface. We must also remember that these figures come before any major employment reduction in the public sector as the UK government's cuts are set to dig deep. Whether or not the number of unemployed in UK will fall further in the short term remains to be seen but ultimately we are likely to see an increase in this figure over the next 12 months as both the public sector and the private sector realign themselves for the difficult economic period ahead.
As with so many economic indicators over the last few months, very often the real information and the real trends are hidden below the surface.
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