july2013 figures

Whilst short term figures are good the worrying aspect is long term unemployment
long term and Youth unemployment remain stubbonly high

bbc

UK unemployment fell by 57,000 to 2.51 million in the three months to May, the Office for National Statistics said.

Youth unemployment fell by 20,000, but the number of long-term jobless hit a 17-year high.

The number of Jobseeker's Allowance claimants in June fell by 21,200 to 1.48 million, the first fall below 1.5 million for nearly three years.

Ministers said it showed that recovery was taking hold, but critics said the human costs were still too high.

Separately, the ONS reported that average earnings increased by 1.7% in the year to May, up by 0.2% on the previous month, giving an average weekly wage of £476.

The unemployment rate was 7.8%, the ONS data showed. The number of people in employment rose by 16,000 to a total of 29.7 million.

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Analysis

Jonty BloomBusiness correspondent, BBC News

It seems that even with low growth rates, the UK economy can create jobs.

Since this time last year about 300,000 more people are in work. And that continues to surprise economists.

In past economic downturns. unemployment has risen much higher - and fallen very slowly.

One explanation is the low rate of wage increases. The latest ONS figures show that pay is increasing on average by 1% a year.

With inflation at almost three times that level, it means the average person is taking a 2% pay cut in real terms.

That is a trend that has been going on for several years. And while it makes staff cheaper to employ and helps bring down unemployment, it also means that even many of those in work are worse off than they were last year.

However, 915,000 people have been out of work for more than a year, the ONS figures showed, an increase of 32,000 and the highest total since 1996.

Just over 460,000 people have been jobless for more than two years, the highest figure since 1997.

The number of people classed as economically inactive also increased in the latest quarter, up by 87,000 to 9.04 million.

'Area of strength'

Unemployment is now 72,000 lower than a year ago, which Employment Minister Mark Hoban said was "encouraging".

"The fall in the number of people claiming out-of-work benefits, together with the news that there are currently over half a million vacancies available in the UK economy, show that there are opportunities out there for those who are prepared to work hard, and who aspire to get on in life," he said.

David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: "With employment rising and unemployment falling, the labour market remains an area of strength for the UK economy.