The official level of unemployment in Britain is set to fall to a 17-year low even though hundreds of thousands of workers are still being laid off every month.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics are expected to show that November was the 21st month in a row which saw the jobless total shrink.

City analysts predict that the fall will be at least 25,000, following October's lower than expected drop of 9,500 because of a huge reduction in the number of students signing on the dole. Seasonally adjusted unemployment dropped to 1,464,300, 5.1% of the workforce, in October and is expected to continue falling.

However, a new report shows that firms are still making workers redundant despite the recovery in job prospects and falling unemployment.

Around 460,000 people were made redundant, sacked or ended a temporary contract in the three months to spring 1997, according to the Employment Policy Institute.

Companies which make staff redundant are also complaining about skill shortages, it was found. Work prospects for men have improved as unemployment has plunged, with two thirds of new jobs going to men, highlighting the "renaissance" of the male workers, said the report.
 

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