THE number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance has fallen below one million for the first time in six years, new figures showed today.

The claimant count fell for the 22nd month in a row in July by 37,200 to 966,500, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

This is the first time the figure has been below one million since September 2008.

The jobless total was 2.02 million in the quarter to July, down by 146,000 on February to April, giving a lower-than-expected unemployment rate of 6.2 per cent.

Analysts had forecast an unemployment rate of 6.3 per cent.

The jobless total is now 468,000 fewer than a year earlier, the largest annual fall in unemployment since 1988.

Average earnings including bonuses rose by 0.6 per cent in the year to July, while average earnings excluding bonuses were 0.7 per cent higher.

There are now 30.61 million people in work, 74,000 more than February to April, the smallest quarterly increase since April to June 2013.

Chancellor George Osborne tweeted: "Today's employment stats mark another step towards full employment. But still much more to do."

He added that unemployment in Scotland was down to six per cent, below the UK average.

Despite a steady two-year easing of unemployment with record numbers in work, the rise in average earnings is still a long way short of the pace of inflation at 1.5 per cent.

The Bank of England halved its forecast for average wage growth last month, saying it now expects average salaries to rise by 1.25 per cent this year