UK unemployment falls but number of long-term sick rises to record high

Almost 9 million people in the UK aged 16-64 are economically inactive. Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA

The number of working-age adults in Britain who are not in the jobs market because they are long-term sick has increased to a record high, official figures show, amid concerns over shortages of workers in the UK economy.

The Office for National Statistics said unemployment in the UK fell to 3.5% in the three months to August from a previous level of 3.8%, dropping to the lowest level since February 1974.