Unemployment and employment statistics

This week the Office of National Statistics has reported that the level of unemployment has declined by 45,000 in the three months to March.
The total number of jobless fell to 2.63 million, its lowest level since last summer. That brought the unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2012 down to 8.2%, from 8.4% in the last three months of 2011.
Employment minister Chris Grayling seized on the news as a "step in the right direction".
However, there were still clear signs of strains in the labour market, with the number of people working part-time because they are unable to find a full-time role hitting a record high of 1.4 million.