UK Unemployment lower

Nice to have some good news to report and at last the oil tanker that is the UK unemployment rate, is beginning to turn around. The number of unemployed in any recession is always the last economic statistic to improve, a "lagging indicator" in any recession and there are 51,000 fewer people out of work at the end of Q1 2012, the total number standing at 2.61. million, or 8.2% of the UK's workforce.

While any increase in unemployment is welcomed, the statistics released by the ONS (Office of National Statistics) also showed an increase in the number of people claiming unemployment benefits in the same period, so the strength of the recovery is not totally clear.

However, the decrease in the number of people unemployed was across most categories, though the reduction in the number of younger jobseekers (18-24),still leaves over one million of them out of work and the number of females looking for work was reduced by a modest 1,000.

The number of self employed continues to rise, with over 4 million of us spurning the security of a regular salaried job and 84,000 doing so in the period reported.