Unemployment falls in East

Unemployment in the East fell by 4,000 in the three months to June, official figures have revealed.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that a total of 205,000 people were unemployed in the region between April and June.

The region's unemployment rate was 6.6% and saw a fall of 1.9% during the period.

Unemployment nationally fell to its lowest level for a year after a big jump in the number of people in work, the new figures showed.

The jobless total fell by 46,000 in the quarter to June to 2.56 million, an unemployment rate of 8% and the number claiming jobseeker's allowance last month was 1.59 million, down by 5,900 on June, said the ONS.

Most of the quarterly fall in unemployment was recorded in London, suggesting a big jobs boost from the Olympic Games.

Other figures showed that the number of part-time workers has reached a record high of 8.07 million while those working part-time because they cannot find a full-time job is 1.42 million, the highest figure since records began in 1992.

Average earnings increased by 1.6% in the year to June, up by 0.1% on the previous month.

The number of people in work increased by 201,000 to almost 30 million, the highest since last summer, with half of the rise coming in London.

Youth unemployment fell by 4,000 to just over a million.

The worst area in the UK was Yorkshire and the Humber which recorded a 25,000 increase in the number of people without a job.