There were 1.75 million unemployed people in the three months to September, 103,000 fewer than for April to June and 210,000 lower than a year earlier, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
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With inflation close to zero it means that real terms pay growth – the extra spending power in workers’ pockets – is still strong.
The Scottish Government highlighted the 34,000 increase in 16 to 24-year-olds in work over the past year.
He put the strong lift in employment down to improved confidence levels, low interest rates, government stimulus for small businesses and strong house construction.
Scottish Secretary David Mundell said: “The labour market performance in Scotland is mixed with the number of people in employment at historically high levels but unemployment starting to move upwards”.
Britain’s unemployment rate has tumbled to a new record low, but wage growth fell short of expectations, supporting the case to keep interest rates lower for longer.
There are also still hundreds of thousands of people claiming unemployment benefits and the number is rising.
As expected, the claimant count held steady at 2.3% in October.
“But we have to admit that if this strengthening of the labour market is sustained, the chances of rates falling to 1.5 per cent next year, as we have been forecasting, are slimmer”, Mr Dales said.
With 31.21 million people in work, up 419,000 from the same quarter in 2014, the numbers are good news for Chancellor George Osborne.
Dr John Philpott, director of The Jobs Economist, says that most of the rise in employment was due to an increase in part-time jobs.
‘While the United Kingdom economy remains solid, we can’t rest on our laurels when the global background is becoming more uncertain.
In September, total wages rose by 2.0%, down from 3.2% the previous month and the weakest increase since February.
The nation’s jobless rate fell to 5.9% last month from 6.2% in September, data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed.
“Clearly, there won’t be another rate cut in 2015”. “The leading indicators of labour demand have still been reasonably positive”, he said.
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‘Earnings continue to grow, albeit the rate for regular pay has fallen back a little from recent months’.
