The UK has the highest rate of employment in its history, according to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, as he announced a further drop in unemployment. The actual claimant count is now the lowest since 1975.
The Office for Budget Responsibility is predicting an unemployment rate of 5.3% in 2015; well below previous targets of around 7%. The OBR said 80% of people were in full time jobs and 80% were skilled.
The new figures allowed the Chancellor to claim that 1.98 million new jobs had been created since the coalition government came to power five years ago.
