UK employment rate sees record high

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON

The British employment rate is at a record high ahead of the start of the country’s Brexit negotiations, official figures revealed on Wednesday.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the employment rate reached 74.6 percent in the last three months. This is the highest the figure has been since 1971, when records began.

There were over 300,000 more people in work compared to the same time last year and the number of women in work was at a record rate of 70 percent, the ONS said.

The latest statistics also reveal unemployment continued to run at an 11-year low of just 4.8 percent, down by more than 900,000 since 2010.

Britain’s Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Damian Green said the country remained in a position of strength with the latest data.

“Our ongoing welfare reforms will continue to incentivize work and make sure the system is fair to all those who need it and those who pay for it,” Green said.

A government statement said “full-time work continues to drive the increase in employment, rising by 218,000 workers on the year, meaning that more people have the security of a regular wage”.

It added that “the number of people claiming benefits (claimant count) fell by 42,000 on the quarter to 2.1% -- the lowest rate since 1974.”