The number of UK workers in temporary jobs in the three months to October fell 2.1% on a year-over-year basis to 1.62 million, according to seasonally adjusted numbers released Wednesday by the Office for National Statistics.

In addition, the number of temporary employees as a percent of all employees fell to 6.0% in the three months ended October from 6.2% in the same period a year earlier. And a smaller percent of workers, 30.5%, were temporary employees because they could not find a permanent job; the percent was 35.1% a year earlier.

Temporary workers are those who say their main job is not permanent because they are on a fixed-period contract, agency temping, in casual work, in seasonal work or in the category 'other temporary worker'.

Looking at overall jobs numbers, the employment rate eased down to 74.4% in the three months ended October from the record high of 74.5% in the previous three months. The number of jobs fell by 6,000.

The unemployment rate was 4.8%; it has not been lower since July through September 2005. The unemployment rate for men was 5.0%, down from 5.3% a year earlier. The unemployment rate for women was 4.7%; it has not been lower since October to December 2005.

“Despite slowing growth in employment, the jobs market is ending the year in a strong position. Unemployment remains at its lowest level since 2005”, said Kevin Green, chief executive of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation. “There are reasons for optimism as we head into 2017. REC data shows demand for staff is increasing in many sectors.”

There were 23.2 million people working full time, 235,000 more than a year earlier. There were 8.56 million people working part-time, 107,000 more than a year earlier

Average weekly earnings for employees in Great Britain in nominal terms (not adjusted for price inflation) increased by 2.5% including bonuses and by 2.6% excluding bonuses compared with a year earlier, according to the ONS.