Accountancy graduates seeking their first professional role may be glad to hear that unemployment rose by the smallest amount since spring 2008 at the last count.
According to official figures, the number of claims for unemployment benefit during November fell for the first time since February 2008, following around 18 months of large-scale redundancies.
However, Institute for Employment Studies research fellow Thomas Usher explained that labour market conditions in the UK have "improved slightly, with employment levels rising for a second month in a row".
He added that it was initially expected that unemployment would peak at a higher level than it has done, due to the effects of the recession.
"It would now seem that the UK labour market has dodged a bullet, at least for the present time," the expert said.
Despite this, Mr Usher warned that jobseekers should not expect a quick turnaround and suggested that figures may be slightly misleading in that many employers have opted to cut hours and freeze pay rather than make redundancies.
