Britain’s jobless rate has dropped to levels not seen since 2008, but wage growth has slowed a little. * Latest: UK unemployment rate falls to 5.4% * Basic pay growth slows Earlier: * China’s producer prices fall 5.9% * Ugly morning in the markets * The Agenda: UK jobs report at 9.30am, Moscovici in Greece 9.57am BST Chancellor George Osborne likes the look of today’s figures: New stats show highest rate of employment in our history at 73.6%, youth unemployment rate at 7 year low & pay rising strongly at 3% Our plan's creating jobs & increasing pay. Today we lock it in with vote in parliament on fiscal charter committing us to running a surplus Related: PMQS and fiscal charter debate: Politics live 9.55am BST The number of people claiming jobless benefits appears to have bottomed out just below 800,000, with the claimant count rising by 4,600 last month. UK unemployment falls to 7-year low 5.4%, employment highest ever. But number of unemployment benefit claimants rises the most in 3 years. Continue reading...
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