Unemployment

The 1970s get a bad press. Economic ruin, union strife, racism, Jimmy Savile, embarrassing music – the list is endless. But was this decade really as bad as it’s portrayed?

Unemployment falls by 125,000 to reach 2.34 million, with the number of people claiming out-of-work benefits also declining as the economy recovers from recession.

Teenagers today are more socially engaged than previous generations but feel that negative stereotyping is affecting their chances of finding a job, according to a report.

With Channel 4’s Benefits Street debate shining a spotlight on the issues raised by the programme, we explain why the series has made such powerful TV viewing.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney ditches his flagship interest rates policy, but says the cost of borrowing is unlikely to rise in the near future despite falling unemployment.

This is the story of Poppy Noor, a young woman who says she only made it to Cambridge because she got benefits.

Jobs. Housing. Benefits. Protests. Is this generation getting a raw deal, and will they accept it? A special series on Channel 4 News next week.

After years of lacklustre growth, the recovery appears to be taking off at last. Good news for Chancellor George Osborne, but even he is not celebrating yet.

Lucy Broomfield, who turned 14 the week Northern Rock collapsed, writes for Channel 4 News about growing up in austerity-hit Britain.

Rachel Reeves, shadow work and pensions secretary, tells Channel 4 News that even though unemployment has dropped, a “cost of living crisis” remains and things are “incredibly tough” for families.

Unemployment falls by 167,000 to reach a five-year low of 2.32 million. The jobless rate is now 7.1 per cent, just above the level that could trigger an interest rate rise.

Benefits Street, a Channel 4 show looking at the lives of benefits claimants in Birmingham, triggers police investigations, a flood of complaints and a row over whether the participants were tricked.