The number of people in employment in the three months to November 2011 stood at 29.119 million, up from 29.101 million in the previous quarter. The rate of employment relative to the working age population stood at 70.3 per cent in the three months to November 2011 down 0.1 percentage points on the three months to August 2011.

Unemployment, as measured by the wider ILO definition, was 2.685 million in the three months to November, up from 2.566 million in the three months to August. The ILO rate of unemployment was 8.4 per cent in the three months to November, up 0.3 per cent on the previous quarter.

The number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance was 1.597 million in December 2011, up from 1.5958 million in November.

Future release dates: 14 February, 14 March 2012.

Full analysis of the latest developments in pay and benefits can be found in IDS Pay Report. A team of dedicated researchers monitor pay settlements, report on changes to pay and conditions at named organisations, and analyse statistics on inflation, earnings and the labour market to provide a key resource for decision makers.