16 November 2017 | Herpreet Kaur Grewal
Government figures show that unemployment is at 4.3 per cent - the lowest rate since 1975.
Figures released by the Office for National Statistics, also show that employment remains at a near-record high, with 32 million people in work.
Estimates from the Labour Force Survey show that between April to June 2017 and July to September 2017 the number of people in work fell slightly, the number of unemployed people also fell, and the number of people aged from 16 to 64 not working and not seeking or available to work (economically inactive) increased.
The number of people on zero-hours contracts also dropped by 20,000, according to the data.
There were 32.06 million people in work - 14,000 fewer than for April to June 2017, but 279,000 more than for a year earlier.
The employment rate (the proportion of people aged from 16 to 64 who were in work) was 75 per cent, down slightly compared with April to June 2017, but up from 74.4 per cent on a year earlier.
There were 1.42 million unemployed people (people not in work but seeking and available to work), 59,000 fewer than for April to June 2017 and 182,000 fewer than for a year earlier.
The unemployment rate (the proportion of those in work plus those unemployed, that were unemployed) was 4.3 per cent, down from 4.8 per cent for a year earlier and the joint lowest since 1975.
There were 8.88 million people aged from 16 to 64 who were economically inactive (not working and not seeking or available to work), 117,000 more than for April to June 2017 but 20,000 fewer than for a year earlier.