Data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this morning shows that the number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance fell by 32,300 in February, to 1.59M.
The total number of unemployed also fell, down 33,000 to 2.45M between November and January.
Labour, and ill informed media organisations, will of course claim that this heralds a recovery.
However, the number of people actually in employment fell by 54,000. The employment rate is now in fact at a 13 year low.
This apparent contradiction comes about because people are in fact pulling out from the labour market, or being taken out of the labour market by government "non" job schemes.
The number of people of working age counted as "inactive" is at an all-time high, 8.16M.
In effect, a large number of people are giving up on finding work.
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