Self-employment on the rise, the latest employment figures from the Office of National Statistics

UK employment fell by 0.1% in the last quarter, according to the Office of National Statistics latest report.  The decrease means 143,000 more people over the age of 16 have not been able to find employment between December 2010 and February 2011.  However, more people found full-time employment as 140, 000 more people have gained full-time positions on the quarter. An interesting trend is in the last two quarters self-employment reached a record high of 4.03 million.

The number of people claiming Jobseekers Allowance has increased by only 700 in the period, with 1.45 million Britons looking for support.  Women claiming benefits continue to rise with and increase of 5,100 women claiming JSA, whereas the number of male claimants fell by 4,400.  The most disappointing trends are for young people, who continue to be overlooked in the labour market. Only 8,000 new jobs in December went to under 25s, but 221,000 went to those over 50.