UK – Olympics Boost – Employment up 201,000 and unemployment rate down 0.2

For April to June 2012:

The employment rate for those aged from 16 to 64 was 71.0 per cent, up 0.4 on the quarter. There were 29.48 million people in employment aged 16 and over, up 201,000 on the quarter.

The unemployment rate was 8.0 per cent of the economically active population, down 0.2 on the quarter. There were 2.56 million unemployed people, down 46,000 on the quarter.

The inactivity rate for those aged from 16 to 64 was 22.6 per cent, down 0.3 on the quarter. There were 9.10 million economically inactive people aged from 16 to 64, down 117,000 on the quarter.

Total pay (including bonuses) rose by 1.6 per cent on a year earlier, up 0.1 on the three months to May 2012. Regular pay (excluding bonuses) rose by 1.8 per cent on a year earlier, unchanged on the three months to May 2012…

via Labour Market Statistics, August 2012.

U.K. Unemployment Unexpectedly Falls on Olympics Boost: Economy 

U.K. jobless claims unexpectedly fell in July and a wider measure of unemployment dropped to its lowest in a year as the Olympic Games created jobs, showing the labor market’s resilience in the face of deepening recession.

Jobless-benefit claims fell 5,900 to 1.59 million, the Office for National Statistics said today in London. The median forecast of 29 economists in a Bloomberg News Survey was for a gain of 6,000. The jobless total measured by International Labor Organization methods fell to 8 percent in the second quarter from 8.1 percent in the three months through May.

The willingness of companies to keep hiring workers when the economy is shrinking has provided a boost for Prime Minister David Cameron and perplexed economists. Some say the improvement is unsustainable and unemployment may rise in coming months.

“It might be difficult to sustain these strong trends,” said Nida Ali, an economist at Ernst & Young’s ITEM Club in London. “Activity in the second half of 2012 is expected to remain sluggish, implying that the private sector will find it increasingly difficult to create jobs.”…

via U.K. Unemployment Unexpectedly Falls on Olympics Boost: Economy – Bloomberg.