"The labor data and improving consumer confidence offer some hope that the domestic situation in the U.K. is stabilizing"
- James Knightley, an economist at ING Bank NV
The number of unemployed people in the U.K. dropped the most in 11 years last month, while jobless claims fell more than expected, suggesting the resilience of the labour market in the face of weak economic performance. The unemployment rate stood at 7.8%, down 0.2 percentage points from the previous three months, as 82,000 less looked for the job, totaling 2.51 million in the three months through October, posting the biggest since 2001. At the same time, the number of people who filed the applications for jobless benefits fell by 3,000 from October to 1.58 million, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday. Last week the government said that it expects the jobless rate to surge to 8.3% at the end of 2013, as it has cut it growth forecast.
"The labor data and improving consumer confidence offer some hope that the domestic situation in the U.K. is stabilizing," said James Knightley, an economist at ING Bank NV in London.
"We see more people looking for work and actually finding work, so I think there's a really strong labour market there," Mark Hoban, minister for work and pensions, told the BBC. "I think there's more flexibility in the labour market, although this month we've seen a big increase in full-time jobs and no movement at all in the number of part-time jobs."
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