"The momentum in activity seems to be feeding through into lower unemployment. We see it getting down to 7 percent around mid 2015."
- Alan Clarke, an economist at Scotiabank
British labour market showed unexpected strength in the third quarter through July, moving a step closer to a threshold introduced by BoE Governor Mark Carney at which officials will reassess the pace of stimulus programme. The U.K. official unemployment rate, which measures the percentage of total work force that is looking for a job and actively seeking employment during a particular period, fell to 7.7% between May and July, down from 7.8% a month earlier. The total number of jobless people also fell, reaching 2.487 million, 24,000 less from the previous period. The Office for National Statistics also showed the number of people claiming for jobless benefits dropped 32,600 hitting 1.402 million, the lowest since February 2009.
The nation's jobless rate has become one of the hottest sets of fundamental data having been closely monitored since the announcement of forward guidance in early August. The U.K. central bank pledged to keep the borrowing costs at a record low until the unemployment rate drops to 7%, which is not expected to happen sooner than in late 2016. However, despite some improvement in the overall picture of the labour market, youth unemployment still remains a serious concern, as the number of unemployed people under 25 stands at 21%, up 0.5% from the previous quarter. Furthermore, the number of part-time workers stands at 1.447 million- a record high.
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