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| UK Unemployment falls to five-year low of 2.2m | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The number of people out of work in the UK has fallen by 77,000 to a five-year low of 2.24m in the three months to February, official figures indicate. | |
| The unemployment rate now stands at 6.9% of the adult working population, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. | |
| Average earnings in the three months to February grew 1.7% compared with a year earlier. | Average earnings in the three months to February grew 1.7% compared with a year earlier. |
| It comes as inflation was recorded to have fallen to 1.6% in March. | It comes as inflation was recorded to have fallen to 1.6% in March. |
| It is the first time since the spring of 2010 that the increase in average wages has exceeded the Consumer Price Index (CPI) measure of inflation. | |
| It is also the first time since the recession that unemployment has fallen below 7%. | |
| At just over 30 million, the number of people in work remained at its highest level in a generation. | |
| Joe Grice, chief economic adviser at the ONS, said: "These figures - rising employment and falling unemployment and inactivity - continue the strong trend in the labour market that has been seen in recent months. Self-employment has again been a prominent growth area." | |
| The last time unemployment stood at 2.2 million was at the height of the financial crisis in June 2009. At that time, it meant unemployment had hit a 13-year high. |