Unemployment has fallen to its lowest level since 2008, new figures have shown.
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However, at United Kingdom level unemployment fell by 79,000 between June and August to 1.7 million, the official figures showed.
The unemployment rate – the proportion of the labour force without work – also sank to a seven-year low at 5.4 percent.
It was also revealed that wages between June and August increased by an average of 2.8 per cent compared to the same period a year ago – up to three per cent if bonuses are included.
There was a 4,600 rise in the number claiming jobless benefits to 796,200 in September.
More details to follow… It predicted United Kingdom growth of 2.5 percent in 2015, and 2.2 percent in 2016, revising its July forecast upwards.
Employment meanwhile rose 140,000 to 31 million people, the highest since records began in 1971.
Osborne said: “It is great news that Britain’s economic plan continues to create jobs and increase pay”.
“We must maintain momentum and ensure that every power at our disposal is used to grow the economy, increase employment, lower unemployment and remove barriers to the jobs market”. We’ve got the highest rate of employment in our history, and real terms pay rising strongly. That is a credit to British business, and a credit to the hardworking people of this country.
There were just over nine million people classed as economically inactive, a rate of 22%, and little changed from the three months to May.
“This is clearly a positive for domestic activity and offers more evidence to suggest that market expectations of the first Bank of England rate rise being more than a year away seem too cautious”, he said.
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Wage growth remains weaker than before the crisis but has picked up faster than the BoE expected earlier this year. But public sector workers are increasingly falling behind.
