Jim Murphy, Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform, welcomed today’s Labour Market figures - which show a fall in the claimant count, more people in work and a fall in ILO unemployment:
“Today’s figures tell a strong story: numbers on each of the main benefits - Jobseeker’s Allowance, Incapacity Benefits and lone parent benefits - are falling, employment is up and unemployment is down.
Our reforms to the welfare state are working: more people are coming off benefits, looking for work and taking up jobs.
“Since 1997, the number of people in work has increased by over 2.5 million and every single day around 250 people have come off out of work benefits. Our Welfare Reform programme builds on this as we aim for an 80% employment rate. To achieve this we need to reduce the numbers on Incapacity Benefits by one million, increase the number of older people in work by a million and the number of lone parents in work by 300 thousand. Today’s figures show we are making real progress.”
The latest figures show that:
The number on Jobseeker’s Allowance fell by 13.5 thousand in January, to 925,800.
Separate figures published today show that the number of people on the other main benefits continues to fall. The number on incapacity benefits is 2.68 million, down 42 thousand in the year to August 2006, its lowest for over six years.
The number on lone parent benefits is 783 thousand, down 6 thousand on the year.
Since 1997, the total number of people on out of work benefits - including JSA,
Incapacity Benefits and lone parents benefits - has fallen by around 900 thousand.
Employment is up 51 thousand in the last quarter and 278 thousand on the year.
ILO unemployment fell 23 thousand this quarter and the unemployment rate is flat.
The number of people who are not looking for a job (the “economically inactive” ) is falling, down by 94 thousand over the year.