THE number of people drawing unemployment benefit has fallen to its lowest level since October 1975, new figures have revealed.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said claimant count unemployment fell by 6,400 to 943,300 last month.

Analysts had forecast a slight rise and said the drop reflected the strength of the jobs market in the UK.

However, in the North-East International Labour Organisation's (ILO) unemployment total was slightly up, by 2,000 to 77,000 in three months to July, a rate of 5.4 per cent.

In Yorkshire and Humberside, ILO unemployment was 133,000, up 3,000, representing 5.4 per cent of the population.

The wider ILO measure of unemployment, showing the number of people looking for work, rose 7,000 to 1.56 million in the quarter to July.

But the ONS showed the UK workforce grew by 38,000 in the same three-month period.

Nationally, more than 28.5 million people are in work, an all-time high, with the jobless rate steady at 3.1 per cent - another 27-year low.

High consumer spending has boosted the health of areas of the economy such as retailing.

The number of jobs in production industries fell by 155,000 in the past year, but service sector jobs have climbed 166,000.

John Irwin, president of the North-East Chamber of Commerce, was disappointed with the rise in unemployment in the region, but he added: "On a positive note, the total remains significantly lower than this time last year, with unemployment having dropped steadily since the turn of the year and the gap between the North-East and other areas of the UK narrowing significantly."