The number of people claiming unemployment benefit has fallen to a 26-year low, figures showed today.

The claimant count total last month was 944,600, down by 7,000 compared with April.

The figure was the lowest since the autumn of 1975, while the new jobless rate of 3.1 per cent is the best since the summer of 1975.

In the South East, the number of jobless rose 15.000 to 161,000 between February and April, giving a regional unemployment rate of 3.7 per cent.

The number of people in work in the UK reached a record 28.4 million in the three months to April, after an increase of 88,000 in the quarter.

There was a fall of 1,000 in the number of men in work but this was more than offset by a rise of 89,000 women in employment.

The total number of jobless people looking for work increased by 19,000 in the past few months, the Office for National Statistics figures showed.

The Government-preferred International Labour Organisation (ILO) figure, which includes people not eligible for employment-related benefits, rose to 1,554,000 in the quarter to April.

Other figures showed average earnings increased by 3.3 per cent in the year to April, up by 0.4 per cent from the previous month.

Earnings growth was again faster in the public sector, at 4.1per cent, compared with 3.1 per cent in private firms, although the public sector figure was down by 0.4 per cent over the previous month.

Earnings growth in the private sector was 0.5 per cent higher than the previous month.

The loss of manufacturing jobs continued, with 173,000 jobs going in the three months to April, the total falling to a record low of 3.7 million.

Manufacturing productivity fell by 0.9 per cent in the quarter to April, while unit wage costs in the sector rose by 3.9 per cent.

The ILO unemployment rate between February and April was 5.2 per cent, although it was higher for men at 5.8 per cent than women at 4.4 per cent.