UK unemployment rate down 5.3%; its lowest since April 2008

The UK unemployment rate went down 5.3 percent from July to September, the first time it has been this low since April 2008.

BBC has reported that the Office for National Statistics said that from the 1.75 million unemployed; there are now 103,000 less jobless people from July to September. Now, there are 31.21 million employed people. That is 177,000 more workers than the period from April to June. That is also 419,000 more workers compared to July to September in 2014.

This Is Money quotes Chancellor George Osborne saying, "Today's figures are excellent news - at 73.7 per cent our employment rate has never been higher and we are moving towards the goal of full employment that I set out a year ago." Meanwhile, Employment Minister Priti Patel said, "Employment is at a record-breaking high, and wages have continued to grow strongly, demonstrating that this Government is delivering for hard-working people."

According to The Telegraph UK the data released Wednesday shows that the jobless rate in Britain is now only 0.2 percentage points above the 2002 to 2007 average. This is better than the Bank of England's forecast in November, which was at 5.4 percentage rate for the third quarter, according to UBS UK economist David Tinsley.

ONS statistician Nick Palmer claims that the figures reported shows a stronger trend in the labor market. ONS reported that the total earnings of employees in the third quarter went up 3 percent compared to the same period last year. This includes their bonuses. The total wages in September went up by 2.0 percent. This is lower than the 3.2 percent in the last month. This is also the weakest raise since February. Removing the bonuses in the computation, the average weekly earnings growth is only 2.5 percent during the third quarter, and is only 1.9 percent in September. This is the weakest it has been since early 2015.