UK job centre
UK unemployment: A man waits for a job centre to open in central London Reuters

UK has seen a surge in job creation over the past three months that has brought the unemployment level to just 0.1% off the Bank of England's 7% threshold for considering a rise in interest rates.

According to the Office for National Statistics, the UK's unemployment rate dipped by 0.3% to 7.1% in November.

The unemployment level fell by 167,000 to 2.32 million in the three months to November, which was the largest quarterly decline since the autumn of 1997, and the second largest on since records began in 1971.

The ONS also revealed the percentage of people aged from 16 to 64 who were in work (the employment rate) was 72.1% up to November.

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This means there were 30.15 million people in employment aged 16 and over, up 280,000 from June to August 2013 and up 450,000 from a year earlier.

In addition, the ONS said there were 2.32 million unemployed people aged 16 and over, down 167,000 from June to August 2013 and down 172,000 from a year earlier.

The research also found the percentage of people aged from 16 to 64 who were economically inactive (the economic inactivity rate) was 22.2%.

The inactivity rate is down 0.1% from June to August 2013 and down 0.2% from a year earlier.

That means there were 8.93 million economically inactive people aged from 16 to 64, down 22,000 from June to August 2013 and down 75,000 from a year earlier.

The data also disclosed total pay and regular pay both rose by 0.9% compared with September to November 2012.

"Today's figures are further proof of economic improvement," said John Salt, Website director at Totaljobs.

He added: "Employers should recognise this as a signal to invest in people and take advantage of the recent growth. Jobseekers should now be more confident of finding employment in 2014 as growth forecasts are revised upwards for this year. The government will look to capitalise on this positive data as they continue preparing the next Budget, which should include further incentives for businesses to take on staff."

Bank of England Unemployment