The Government was given some welcome news on the jobs front today when unemployment fell for the first time in almost two years and fewer people claimed jobseeker's allowance.

The number of people out of work in the three months to November was cut by 7,000 to 2.46 million, although the rate remained unchanged at 7.8 per cent.

The claimant count fell for the second month in a row in December, down by 15,200 to 1.61 million, the biggest monthly fall since April 2007.

The number of unemployed people is more than half a million higher than a year ago, today's data from the Office for National Statistics showed.

Other figures revealed a 16,000 fall in the number of 16 to 24-year-olds out of work to 927,000, a jobless rate of almost 20 per cent.