"It continues to be surprising that employment is growing so strongly when the economy is flat-lining"
- Samuel Tombs, an economist at Capital Economics Ltd.
Britain's unemployment rate fell unexpectedly last month, while the number of people in work has reached another record high, indicating some improvement in the labour market. The Office for National Statistics said Wednesday that the overall jobless rate fell to 7.7%, the lowest rate since March-to-May 2009, when it was 7.6%, while unemployment claims declined by 12,100 from November to 1.56 million, reaching the lowest since June 2011. At the same time, employment jumped 90,000 during the quarter through November, reaching the total number of 29.7 million people, the highest since records began in 1971. However, the report also showed that consumers remain under pressure from subdued wage increases, as weekly pay growth slowed to an annual 1.5%.
"It continues to be surprising that employment is growing so strongly when the economy is flat-lining," said Samuel Tombs, an economist at Capital Economics Ltd. in London. "The weakness of pay growth helps. The economy may grow this year, albeit slowly."
"The U.K. labour market continued to show surprising resilience in the face of signs of renewed economic weakness in the fourth quarter," said Chris Williamson, chief economist for data providers Markit.
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