Jobless total close to rate trigger

Updated
File photo dated 19/03/09 of a group of men outside a Job Centre Plus branch as a shortage of skilled workers in some industries is a
File photo dated 19/03/09 of a group of men outside a Job Centre Plus branch as a shortage of skilled workers in some industries is a

%VIRTUAL-SkimlinksPromo%Unemployment has fallen to 7.1% - within touching distance of the figure which will be used to decide whether interest rates will increase, official data have revealed.

The number of jobless people plunged by 167,000 in the quarter to November - the second biggest fall on record - to 2.32 million, the lowest for almost five years.

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