U.K. jobless rate falls to 15-month low at 7.9%

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U.K. jobless rate falls to 15-month low at 7.9%
from MarketWatch.com - MarketPulse
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- The British unemployment rate fell to a 15-month low of 7.9% in the three months ending in August, down from 8.1% in the three months ending in May, the U.K. Office for National Statistics reported Wednesday. That's the lowest since a rate of 7.8% in March-May 2011. The number of unemployed fell by 50,000 over the period to 2.53 million people, the ONS said. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast the rate to remain unchanged at 8.1%. The number of people seeking jobless benefits fell 4,000 in September to 1.57 million, the ONS said. "With revised GDP data suggesting the U.K. returned to underlying growth in 2Q, this labor data provides hope that this recovery has been ongoing over recent months, raising some doubt about whether the [Bank of England] will unleash a new round of asset purchases next month," said Rob Carnell, economist at ING Bank.