Unemployment fell by 28,000 in three months

The government was given a pre-Budget boost as official figures showed a fall in the numbers out of work by 28,000 to 1.68 million between November to January.

The number of people on the claimant count, including those on Jobseeker's Allowance, was cut by 18,000 last month to 716,700, the lowest since 1975, figures from the Office of National Statistics revealed.

Employment has reached a record high of 31.4 million with an increase of 116,000 in the latest quarter.

But there was no significant increase in wages with the average earnings increasing by 2.1% in the year to January, up by 0.2% on the previous month.

And the figures also revealed a 177,000 increase in part-time workers to almost 8.5 million in the past year.