THE Government was given some pre-Christmas cheer on the jobs front but the North-East continues to be plagued by the highest jobless rate in Great Britain at 9.1 per cent, compared to a national average of 6 per cent.

In addition, the claimant count rate in was highest in the North-East (4.5 per cent) and lowest in the South East (1.5 per cent).

Nationally the latest figures showed another fall in unemployment and a record number of people in work.

But a cut of 63,000 in the jobless total to 1.96 million between August and October was the smallest quarterly fall for a year.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that 30.8 million people were in work, the highest since records began in 1971, and 588,000 up on a year ago.

The number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance was down by 26,900 in November to 900,100 - the 25th consecutive monthly fall.

Pay, including bonuses, increased by 1.4 per cent in the year to October, up by 0.4 per cent on the previous month, and higher than the current rate of CPI inflation.

Average pay is now £483 a week before tax and other deductions, an increase of 55.3 per cent compared to the year 2000.

Other data showed that public sector employment has fallen by 7,000 to 5.4 million, the lowest level since records began in 1999, although many public sector employees have been reclassified as being in the private sector if they work for school academies.

Private sector employment is 890,000 higher than a year ago and now stands at more than 25 million.

The jobless rate for 16 to 24-year-olds has remained at 16 per cent, while the proportion of self-employed workers has fallen slightly to 14.7 per cent of total employment.

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said: "These figures show that our long-term economic plan to create a better, more prosperous future for Britain is working - with thousands of people feeling more secure over the Christmas period with a regular wage."

Business Secretary Vince Cable said: "There is still more to be done. Although youth unemployment has fallen in the past year, it remains too high. That is why we will continue to encourage firms to invest in the UK and equip British workers with the skills they need to compete in the jobs market."

Chris Jones, chief executive of the City & Guilds Group, said: 'It is encouraging to see so many more people in work this Christmas compared to the same time last year. But we shouldn't let this good news lull us into a false sense of security because the figures tell us only part of the story.

"If we are seeing more people in work, why are we still seeing skills gaps in a number of different industries? And there are still disgracefully high numbers of young people out of work, with no change since the summer. This is no cause for celebration."

GMB union general secretary Paul Kenny said "This is the fifth Christmas with this Government in power and, while the recovery under way is welcome, it should be much further ahead. There are too many households this Christmas with jobless workers."

Ian Burke, director of totaljobs.com, said: "Unemployment is still falling, yet it continues to drop at a slower pace than we've become accustomed to. While the ONS data show the number of people in work has risen, the figures are likely to be driven in part by an increase in short-term and insecure work over the festive season."

Neil Carberry, CBI director for employment and skills, said: "As we come to the end of the year, it's good news that unemployment continues to fall, as jobs are being created. It's good to see even more people working full-time.

"We are starting to see the first signs of real pay growth picking up, which will have given households an encouraging boost in the run-up to Christmas."

David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: "The UK labour market remains strong, resilient and flexible. However the decline in unemployment was the smallest in more than a year, indicating a slowdown in the pace of growth.

"These figures also highlight that pay is now growing faster than inflation. While this is an encouraging development, it would be a mistake to interpret it as an argument for early interest rate rises."

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "Today's figures show some long overdue improvements, but at this rate it will take over a decade to recover the real value of people's earnings. And there is a very long way to go to deal with the problem of so many jobs being insecure, short hours, or on zero hour contracts.

"We need to make sure that nobody is left behind in the recovery, so today's increase in long-term unemployment for young people is a growing concern."

Andrew Hunter, co-founder of jobs site Adzuna, said: "The jobs market has passed several major milestones in the last month: pay has outpaced inflation and there are now more available vacancies than there are jobseekers. Our latest report found there were 0.95 jobseekers per every available vacancy.

"Although jobseekers outnumber available positions, there are not enough skilled workers to meet demand in booming sectors like manufacturing and IT. Many of the jobs created over the last month have been seasonal slots to support customer service roles over the Christmas period.

"And the real wage increase is being helped by uncertainty in the eurozone, and falling oil prices, which have forced inflation to artificially low levels."