“Worst is over” for jobs market

Those facing problems with debt due to unemployment may benefit from signs that “the worst is over”.

Research fellow at the Institute for Employment Studies Thomas Usher explained that although any recovery in the jobs market is likely to be slow, it appears that conditions are set to improve.

He was commenting after the Office for National Statistics revealed that unemployment dropped by 7,000 over the three months to the end of November.

It represented the first decline in the level in six quarters, meaning it stood at 2.46 million.

And although the figures have been greeted with surprise by some analysts, Mr Usher suggested that Jobseeker’s Allowance data provided an indication that an improvement could be seen.

“There were already signs that things were starting to turn,” he remarked.

Work and pensions secretary Yvette Cooper recently stated that government investment in jobs and education had contributed to the drop in unemployment.

By Andy Mackay