British unemployment falls to 7.7%

British unemployment rate dropped to 7.7 percent in the three months ending July, pointing to a stronger economic recovery. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said Wednesday the unemployment rate was down 0.4 percentage points from the same period a year earlier, and down 0.1 percentage points compared to that of the three month period from February to April 2013. There were 2.49 million unemployed people in the country in the May-July period, down 105,000 from a year earlier and down 24,000 from the previous three months. The ONS said jobless rate was the lowest since September-November period 2012. The improvement in the unemployment figure has brought Britain closer to a rise of the interest rate set by the central bank's new guidance. The Bank of England (BOE) said in early August that it would keep the interest rate at record low 0.5 percent until British unemployment drops to 7 percent or below. The official figures also showed the number of people claiming Jobseekers' Allowance fell by 32,600 to 1.40 million, its lowest level since February 2009. The employment rate for those aged from 16 to 64 was 71.6 percent in the three months to July, up 0.2 percentage points from February to April 2013 and up 0.4 from a year earlier. "There were 29.84 million people in employment aged 16 and over, up 80,000 from February to April 2013 and up 275,000 from a year earlier," the ONS said. However, according to the ONS, the number of people working part-time because they cannot find a full-time job increased to 1.45 million, the highest since records began in 1992. Average pay rose by 1.1 percent in the three months compared with same period last year, still below the inflation rate of 2.8 percent.