Unemployment falls to record low in East of England new figures released today show

The East of England employment rate is now at 77.7% and there are 7,500 fewer people claiming unemployment benefit in the region than this time last year.

DWP Employment Minister, Priti Patel, said: “This is a record-breaking set of figures – and has got 2016 off to a fantastic start.

“There are now more people in work than ever before and wages are growing consistently – a credit to hardworking Brits and businesses alike. And in a further demonstration of the strength of the UK labour market today’s figures show a record three quarters of a million vacancies available. The East of England has the second-highest employment rate of any UK region, now at 77.7%.

“As a One Nation Government we will build on this throughout the coming year – doubling childcare for working parents and introducing the new National Living Wage – ensuring that everyone has increased financial security and the opportunity to get on and succeed in life.”

Nationally, today’s official figures show that over the last year more than half-a-million more people are now in work, bringing employment to a new record high of 31.4 million. This growth has been driven by a rise in full-time jobs.

Wages have continued to grow strongly, 2% over the last year, and the number of vacancies has reached more than 750,000, showing the wealth of opportunities that are being created in the economy.

Unemployment now stands at 5.1% – the lowest since early 2006 – and long-term unemployment has fallen by 25% over the year to 488,000, the lowest in six years.

The landmark set of figures have also shown:

The number of women in work is up by over a million since 2010 to new record high of 14.66 million.

The proportion of young people who have left full-time education and are out of work has fallen to a record low of 14.1%.

The employment rate for young people who have left full-time education continues to rise – up to 74.6%, which remains the highest in over a decade.