British unemployment rate falls to 7.4%

The British unemployment rate dropped to 7.4 percent for the three months ending in October, official figures showed on Wednesday. The Office of National Statistics (ONS) said the rate was down 0.3 percentage points compared to the previous period from May to July. The fall was bigger than the previous market prediction and for the first time in the history of Britain, employment exceed 30 million. The ONS said the employment rate for those aged from 16 to 64 for August to October of this year was 72 percent, rising 0.4 percentage points from the previous three months. The number of employed people surged by 250,000 in the three months to October to reach 30.09 million, while the number of jobless dropped 99,000 in the three months to 2.39 million. Mark Beatson, chief economist of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), said: "This shows how effective the British labour market is at creating jobs and, with demand picking up and recruitment intentions strong, we can expect to see further jobs growth in the months ahead." He added there were indications that youth unemployment was starting to come down, "although it is still far too high." However, growth of average earning in Britain remained subdued. ONS figures showed average weekly earnings excluding bonus payments rose by 0.8 percent year on year to 448 pounds (733 U.S. dollars) in October. "Unless UK businesses use the improved economic climate to invest in their businesses and their people, we are unlikely to see wage growth pick up any time soon," Beatson said. British central bank, the Bank of England, explicitly targeted 7 percent unemployment as its threshold point for considering a rise in the bank rate from its current historic low of 0.5 percent where it has been since early 2009. The British Chambers of Commerce predicted that Britain would reach its threshold of 7 percent unemployment rate in the third quarter of 2015.