Video: Ed Miliband welcomes unemployment figures Speaking during Prime Minister's Questions, Labour leader Ed Miliband welcomed the fall in unemployment but accused David Cameron of complacency in the face of 13 million people living in poverty in working families. Mr Cameron retaliated by saying the country was recovering from the "mess" that the Labour party had left, and likened Mr Miliband to an "arsonist who goes around setting fire after fire and then complains when the fire brigade aren't putting out the fires fast enough." Average earnings increased by 0.9 per cent in the year to November, unchanged from the previous month, giving a weekly wage of £475, today's report from the Office for National Statistics showed. Long-term unemployment has fallen - down by 61,000 to 839,000 among those out of work for over a year. The number of unemployed 16 to 24-year-olds fell by 39,000 to 920,000.