There are now 29.68 million people in work in Britain according to the new figures released by government body, the Office of National Statistics. The unemployment rate for the three months to November 2012 is down by just 0.1%, to 7.7% of the entire population. 12,100 fewer people are claiming Job Seeker's Allowance. The ONS defines employment as anyone who works even for just one hour a week. But the data for those who work fewer hours than they want to, shows the numbers have jumped up by 1 million people since the financial crisis in 2008, so there's obviously a bigger problem here.

And the debate on how to define employment is set to rage on with the imminent release of the latest GDP figures – showing how much (or how little the UK's economy has grown). Many forecasters are saying we're heading for a triple-dip recession.