Unemployment falls to lowest level since 1974 Unemployment hit 3.6% in the three months to July, with this the lowest level since 1974. Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows that the number of people in employment grew by 40,000 over the period. While regular pay, excluding bonuses, grew by 5.2% over the period, when inflation is taken into account, real pay fell by 3.9% year-on-year. Total pay including bonuses was up 5.5% in the three months to July but down 3.6% with inflation taken into account. In the private sector average regular pay growth over the May through July period was 6%, while in the public sector it stood at 2%. The ONS figures also show that total weekly hours worked fell by 3.5m.