MORE PEOPLE than ever are in work in the UK, according to latest labour statistics, which show that employment has hit an all-time high of 29.59 million people.

Figures published by the Office for National Statistics yesterday also show a 50,000 fall in the numbers unemployed in the three months to August to 2.53 million. The surprise drop in the number of people out of work has been attributed in part to the London Olympics.

The fall in unemployment across the UK has not been replicated in Northern Ireland.

While the unemployment rate fell to 7.9 per cent across the UK in the months between June and August, the corresponding rate in the North rose to 8.1 per cent.

This reflected another sharp jump in the number of people out of work – up 10,000 over the quarter to a new high of 70,000.

The figures show that while the private sector continues to create jobs across the UK in general, the opposite is true in the North.