Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said the figures “show the resilience of our labour market”, adding that the UK’s employment rate is “now the third highest in the G7, despite a backdrop of global uncertainty”.
However, he acknowledged that “too many young people still find themselves locked out of employment”.
The government is working with industry “to bring young people back into the labour market and prevent them from drifting into the welfare system”, he added.
Conservative shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith said on X that “businesses can’t afford to hire”.
“This is what happens when you attack employers, tax jobs, and put up red tape,” he said.
The latest ONS figures showed that the unemployment rate among people aged 16 to 24 was 15.6% in the June-to-August quarter. This was down from 16.4% in the March-to-May period but remained above the 14.6% recorded in the same period last year.
Separate ONS data indicates that nearly one million young people in the UK are not in education, employment or training, a status known as “Neet”.
On Monday, Prime Minister Andy Burnham warned that the UK faced an “economic catastrophe and moral failure” because of high youth unemployment.
Capital Economics senior UK economist Ashley Webb said the decline in unemployment was “unexpected” and suggested the labour market “continues to recover”.
However, he added: “With businesses’ energy costs likely to fall only slowly, we still think hiring will stay subdued.”
Resolution Foundation senior economist Louise Murphy said the labour market “has performed poorly in recent years as the number of jobs has fallen and pay growth weakened”.
She added, however, that the UK’s “recent bout of economic resilience may finally be creating some green shoots”, citing “rising employment levels and private sector wage growth stabilising”.
The quality of ONS statistics has been criticised in recent years, with a review last year identifying “deep seated” problems at the organisation.
The Labour Force Survey, which the ONS uses to report payroll and employment figures, has been affected by low response rates.
In an update on Tuesday, the ONS said response levels had improved but that “some volatility” remained in the statistics.
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