The latest jobless figures will today have given the Government encouragement with a dramatic fall in the number of people out of work.
Unemployment fell by 33,000 in the three months to January to 1,436,000, the second lowest figure since records began in 1984.
The number of people claiming unemployment benefit fell by 6,600 last month to 885,200, the lowest total for almost 30 years.
A record 28.27 million people were in work, 262,000 more than a year ago, mainly driven by the rise in women workers.
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