UK unemployment figures released!

HOURS WORKED10:26:

How much work is done in the UK economy? The above graph from the ONS shows the total number of hours worked. As a nation we clocked up 966.8 million hours between October and December 2013, which was up 18.9 million on the same three months a year earlier. The average weekly hours worked per person in the last quarter were 32.1, the sort of numbers we on Business Live can only yearn for.

1. UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURES09:48:
   

   This graph illustrates how employment figures have changed in the last quarter (October - December). The full report from the ONS is available here.
2. UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURES09:43: 
   The ONS says the latest 7.2% unemployment rate (for October - December) was HIGHER than the 7.1% reported last month, which was for the three months to November. But it was 0.4 percentage points DOWN from the preceding quarter (July to September). Perhaps more importantly, the number of people counted as unemployed was 2.34 million, down 125,000 from July to September 2013 and down 161,000 from a year earlier.
3. UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURES09:36: 
   Youth unemployment has dropped by 1% on the last quarter, with 49,000 more 16 to 24 year olds in work.
4. UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURES09:31: 
   UK unemployment for the last quarter was at 7.2%. More to follow.