Unemployment down - but number of dole claimants rises - Home News - UK - The Independent The jobless total dropped 51,000 to 2.61 million in the quarter to April, while the number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance in May rose by 8,100 to 1.6 million, ending two months of declines. The number of people in work saw its biggest increase since the quarter to August 2010 as the employment rate increased by 166,000 to almost 29.28 million - nearly equally split between full and part-time workers. Almost eight million people are now in a part-time job, while those working part-time because they cannot find full-time work increased by 25,000 to 1.4 million. Self-employment has reached a record figure of 4.17 million, up by 84,000 since the previous quarter. Average earnings increased by 1.4% in the year to April, up by 0.5 percentage points on the previous month due to the timing of bonuses. Average weekly pay in private firms in April was £5 higher at £465 compared to a year ago. But other figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that the number of people unemployed for more than a year increased by 85,000 to 886,000. The number of people unemployed for more than two years rose by 29,000 to 434,000. The UK's unemployment rate has fallen by 0.2 percentage points to 8.2%, lower than the European average of 10.3%. Spain has the highest unemployment rate in the EU at 24.3%, while Austria has the lowest at 3.9%. Youth unemployment has also fallen, down by 29,000 over the latest quarter to 1.01 million. There were 9.23 million economically-inactive people in the three months to April, a fall of 69,000, mainly due to a reduction in the number of students. Employment Minister Chris Grayling said: "Any fall in unemployment is very welcome but I remain cautious over the next few months, given the continuing economic challenges we face. There are more jobs available in the economy with vacancies at 465,000, up 7,000 on this time last year. The number of people employed in the private sector is up 205,000 on the quarter, more than offsetting a 39,000 fall in public sector employment. The total number of people working full-time has also increased by 82,000. These figures show that with the right support in place, it is possible for the private sector to create jobs while the public sector employment is falling. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "Today's figures show some long overdue good news in the labour market. New full-time jobs have been created and employment is up while unemployment has fallen. However, there are still real concerns about this being a sustainable recovery. Long-term youth unemployment has risen yet again, the claimant count is still going up and while male unemployment fell by 52,000 in the quarter, the number of unemployed women only fell by 3,000. We now need to turn today's positive news into a steady fall in unemployment. The Government must invest in jobs to get the economy growing again. Paul Kenny, GMB general secretary, said: "Unemployment of 2.61 million five years into recession is unacceptable, unnecessary and an unforgivable waste of human talents. Cameron, Clegg, Osborne and Cable must conclude that Plan A to reduce the deficit to restore growth is not working and has stalled the recovery. We need an emergency budget to reflate the economy, to restore demand, which will get people back to work and reduce the deficit. Unison leader Dave Prentis said: "While there may be a small reduction in unemployment, we know that the situation for our members working in the public sector - under the cosh of the coalition Government's relentless austerity agenda - is getting tougher by the day. The figures also shine a harsh light on the hard-core of the unemployment crisis in the UK - that of long-term unemployment. The number of people unemployed for more than two years continues to rise. We know that the longer someone is out of work, the more difficult it is to get back into it. The Government would be wise not to hide behind these small increases, in the vain belief that they show that the economy is improving. The reality is that many people are suffering as a result of stagnant growth and the brutal public sector cuts, and the Government needs to wake up to this and take action if we are to see any true signs of recovery. Unemployment in the regions between February to April was: Region Total unemployed Change on quarter Unemployment rate North East 145,000 plus 8,000 11.3% North West 325,000 plus 8,000 9.4% Yorkshire/Humber 248,000 minus 13,000 9.3% East Midlands 186,000 minus 1,000 8.0% West Midlands 223,000 minus 18,000 8.4% South East 288,000 plus 2,000 6.4% South West 164,000 minus 5,000 6.1% Wales 132,000 minus 2,000 9.0% Scotland 220,000 minus 14,000 8.2% N Ireland 60,000 plus 5,000 7.1%