The Labour government received a big pre-election boost on the economy yesterday when new figures showed a record number of people in work, unemployment continuing to fall and an easing of earnings growth.
Despite speculation that the jobless total might start creeping back towards the politically sensitive one million mark, the number of people claiming unemployment benefit fell by 10,200 last month to a 25-year low of 975,800.
The number of people in work reached a record 28.1 million, a rise of 268,000 over the year, the Office for National Statistics reported.