Although the number of people claiming jobseekers allowance fell to is lowest level since March 2009, the number of people who have been out of work for more than a year increased by 85,000 to 772,000. Of these, 11,000 come from the 16-24 age group, bringing the total in this group to 926,000.
The worst rise though came from those described as economically inactive - people of working age out of work and not seeking employment. These rose by 29,000 in the last quarter to a record high of 8.19 million. This now equates to 21.5% of the working age population. (15.5% excluding inactive students).
Minister for employment Chris Grayling said: "These figures underline why we need to create real incentives for businesses to grow and create job opportunities." He added: "With nearly five million people on some form of out of work benefit and record numbers of people who are economically inactive, we have to make sure that as the economy grows, jobs are created."
The employment rate is now 72.1%, 1.2% lower than it was a year ago.
