LONDON: Britain’s unemployment rate has dropped to its lowest level since 2008 but earnings growth has slowed, according to the final official labour market figures to be published before the election.
The Office for National Statistics said the rate dropped to 5.6% in the three months to February, down from 5.8% in the previous three months. It is the lowest rate since the onset of the financial crisis in July 2008.
The employment rate was 73.4%, the highest since comparable records began in 1971. That rise came as the number of people in employment rose by 248,000, the biggest increase for almost a year, to 31.05 million.
The figures will be welcomed by the Conservatives as they seek to flag up economic successes ahead of the 7 May vote. But opposition parties are likely to seize on fresh evidence that higher employment remains slow to translate into rising living standards.
