The number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits fell for the 15th month in a row to just over 800,000.

Total unemployment, including people not eligible to claim the Jobseeker's Allowance, has also fallen, down by 13,000 in the three months to November to 1.65 million.

In Yorkshire and the Humber, 141,000 people are out of work, up 7,000 on the previous period, an unemployment rate of six per cent.

The number of people in work nationwide increased by 175,000 in the latest quarter to 29.3 million, the highest figure since records began in 1971.

It was the biggest quarterly increase in employment for a decade, said the Office for National Statistics.

Jobseeker's Allowance claimants fell by 6,400 last month to 807,700, the lowest total since the summer of 1975 and down by 131,400 over the past year.

Job vacancies also reached a record high of 681,100 in the three months to December, up by 12,200 from the previous quarter.

But the number of manufacturing jobs continued to fall, down by 33,000 in the quarter to November to 2.9 million compared with a year earlier, the lowest total since records began in 1978.

Average earnings growth remained unchanged at 4 per cent in the year to November compared with the previous month, and at 3.6 per cent if bonus payments were excluded.

The number of people classed as economically inactive, including those looking after a relative, long-term sick or adults who have given up looking for work, fell by 81,000 over the latest three months to 7.9 million, a fifth of the working population.

Around 124,000 people were made redundant in the three months to November, up by 3,000 from the previous quarter but 12,000 down on the year.

Industrial disputes caused 17,000 working days to be lost in November, taking the annual total to 976,000.

What do you think? Register to have your say on this story.