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Unemployment drops to 7.7%

Unemployment has dropped by 0.1% to 7.7% between May and July. The Bank of England said interest rates are unlikely to be raised before it falls to 7%. But the number of part-time workers has risen to a record 1.45 million.

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Labour: Families battling while Osborne is boasting

Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary Liam Byrne said:

Today's headline fall in unemployment is welcome, but what today's figures expose is that while out of touch ministers are boasting, families are battling.

They're battling another fall in wages, another rise in youth unemployment and yet another rise in long term unemployment.

We need a recovery that benefits everyone, not just a few at the top.

That is why Labour wants to help to make work pay by introducing a lower 10p starting rate of tax, paid for by a mansion tax, and to repeat the tax on bank bonuses to pay for a compulsory jobs guarantee for young people.

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