The latest UK employment figures reveal the largest rise in employment for nearly four years. 

• The number of people in work in the three months to May 2010 rose by 160,000 to 28.98 million and the employment rate rose by 0.3 per cent to 72.3 per cent.  
•  The number of people in part-time work rose by 117,000 (to 6.63 million) and the number of people who were self-employed rose by 59,000 (to 3.93 million).  However, the number of people in full-time work fell by 22,000 to 18.2 million.
• The unemployment rate fell by 0.1 per cent to 7.8 per cent and the number of unemployed people dropped by 34,000 over the quarter to 2.47 million.  The number of people unemployed for up to six months fell by 54,000 to reach 1.16 million.  But the number unemployed for 12 months or more was up by 61,000 at 787,000, the highest figure since March 1997.
• The number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance in June (the claimant count) fell by 20,800 compared with the previous month and was down by 100,100 on June last year.
• The inactivity rate fell by 0.2 per cent to 21.3 per cent as the number of economically inactive people of working age decreased by 62,000 to 8.10 million.
•  The number of vacancies in three months to the end of June was 492,000, up by 10,000 over the quarter. 

As far as older workers are concerned, the figures show:

• The number of people aged 50 to state pension age (SPA) in employment grew by 17,000 to 6.60 million.  There was also a rise of 28,000 in the number of people over SPA in employment, which now stands at 1.44 million.
• The number of men aged 50+ who are unemployed fell by 7,000 to 270,000 of whom 120,000 (44.6 per cent) have been unemployed for over 12 months.  The number of unemployed women aged 50+ was unchanged at 119,000 of whom 50,000 (41.8 per cent) have been unemployed for over 12 months.
• The number of men 50+ claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance in June fell slightly (down 2,400) to 157,700, of whom 43,400 (27.5 per cent) have been claiming for over 12 months.  The number women 50+ claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance was down by 500 to 66,200, of whom 14,100 (21.3 per cent) have been claiming for over 12 months.

But despite the improvement there was a generally muted welcome for the figures from employment commentators.  Nigel Meager, Director of the Institute for Employment Studies, said:

“There are some encouraging signs of stronger labour market demand in this month’s figures, with unemployment down by 34,000, and employment growing by 160,000. Vacancies have also risen again, though they remain well below pre-recession levels.”

However, Meager was seriously concerned by the news that long-term unemployment had increased again to reach more than three-quarters of a million and said:

“Urgent policy action is needed to support this group back into work to avoid the damaging long-term social impacts experienced in previous recessions.”