The UK claimant count fell by 12,000 in December, to 1.56m according to the latest data out today from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The consensus estimate was for a flat reading.

Furthermore, the previous month's reading has been revised up to show a fall of 3,000 versus the previous reading of 8,900.

The unemployment rate was 7.7% (Consensus: 7.8%) of the economically active population, down 0.1 on June to August 2012 and down 0.7 on a year earlier.

The employment rate rose by 0.1 percentage points for the three months ended in November, reaching 71.4%, and up 1.1 on a year earlier. There were 29.68 million people in employment aged 16 and over, up 90,000 on June to August 2012 and up 552,000 on a year earlier.

Total pay (including bonuses) rose by 1.5% compared with September to November 2011, as expected. Regular pay (excluding bonuses) rose by 1.4% compared with September to November 2011, also in-line with economists' estimates.

AB

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