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Secured Loans > Number of jobless falls to lowest rate since 2008
Unemployment in the UK has fallen to its lowest rate since the financial crisis of 2008, official figures show.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the number of people without paid employment fell by 76,000 during December, January and February, to 1.84 million. This puts the unemployment rate at 5.6 per cent, 1.3 per cent lower than in March 2014 and 7.9 per cent lower than in May 2010, when the Coalition government took power. The number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance dropped by 20,700 during March of this year, to 772,400, the ONS revealed.
A senior economist at Capital Economics, Samuel Tombs, said that he expects unemployment figures to continue to drop over the coming months.
The strong unemployment figures helped to strengthen the pound against the dollar, with sterling reaching its highest rate in four weeks.
The number of people in work increased to 31.05 million, a rise of 248,000 in a three month period and the biggest such rise of the last twelve months. The number of unemployed young people aged between 16 and 24 fell to 742,000, a drop of 22,000 during the three months to February. Long term unemployment is also down by 188,000.
Unemployment is currently lowest in the south east of England, at 4.2 per cent and highest in the North East, where it is 7.7 per cent.
Average weekly earnings also increased by 1.8 per cent over the last twelve month period, although they dropped by a percentage point between January and February. Chief economist at Markit, Chris Williamson, said that the upturn in real wages is a significant factor in the UK’s recent economic recovery. Consumer spending is up but there are uncertainties about how long this can last.
Representative 22.93% APRC variable.
For a typical loan of £26,600 over 180 months with a variable interest rate of 19.56% per annum, your monthly repayments would be £484.00. This includes a Product Fee of £2,660.00 (10% of the loan amount) and a Lending Fee* of £763.00, bringing the total repayable amount to £87,030.00. Annual Interest Rates range between 11.7% to 46.5% (variable). Maximum 50.00% APRC. *Lending Fee varies by country: England & Wales £763, Scotland £1,051, Northern Ireland: £1,736.
Think carefully before securing debts against your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage or any other loan secured against it. If you are thinking of consolidating existing borrowing, you should be aware that you may be extending the terms of the debt and increasing the total amount you repay.
