UK unemployment falls to lowest since 1974 but wages fail to keep up with cost of living

The unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in nearly 50 years, new figures show.

The UK’s unemployment rate dropped to its lowest for almost half a decade as more Britons left the labour market completely.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the unemployment rate fell to 3.5% over the three months to August – the lowest since February 1974.

Economists had predicted that the unemployment rate would stay steady at 3.6%, the rate it hit during the previous quarter.

The UK’s unemployment rate dropped to its lowest for almost half a decade as more Britons left the labour market completely, according to official figures.

It came after a record rise in the number of people considered “economically inactive” due to long-term sickness.

Meanwhile, the number of UK workers on payrolls rose by 69,000 between August and September to 29.7 million, the ONS said.

However, rises in regular wages failing to keep up with the rising cost of living with the value of regular pay fell by 2.9 per cent according to the ONS.

ONS head of labour market and household statistics David Freeman said: “The unemployment rate continues to fall and is now at its lowest for almost 50 years.

“However, the number of people neither working nor looking for work continues to rise, with those who say this is because they’re long-term sick reaching a record level.

“While the number of job vacancies remains high after its long period of rapid growth, it has now dropped back a little, with a number of employers telling us they’ve reduced recruitment due to a variety of economic pressures.

“However, because unemployment is also down, there continues to be more vacancies than unemployed people.”