United Kingdom unemployment falls to 1.67 million

Meanwhile, the ONS revealed that the overall unemployment rate fell to 5.0%, down 0.1 points to the lowest level since the three months to October 2005.

The ILO jobless rate came in at 5% in three months to April, below the expected rate of 5.1%.

The number of people in work rose by 55,000, keeping the employment rate at a record high of 74.2 per cent.

“Meanwhile, inward investment into Wales also continues at historic high levels”.

In May, the claimant count rate held steady at 2.2 percent, marginally above the 2.1 percent economists had forecast.

Earnings including bonuses were 2% higher from year earlier, the ONS said.

Economist Ruth Miller said the figures should allay fears that uncertainty about the vote had “significantly weighed on the economy”.

Local government employment has reached a record low of 2.2 million after a fall of 17,000 in recent months.

Wage growth including bonuses in the three months through April was unchanged at 2 percent, a faster pace than forecast.

Basic wage growth in April alone was 2.5%, surging up from 1.9% in March thanks to the introduction of the new National Living Wage.

While employers continued to add jobs as the June 23 European Union referendum draws closer, the pace of improvement has slowed, suggesting some hiring and investment is being put on hold pending the too-hard-to-call vote.

There are almost 31.6m people in work, 55,000 more than for the three months to January 2016 and up 461,000 over the last 12 months.

Employment in the NHS is now 1.6 million, a rise of 31,000 since March previous year.

Also she noted that, delving below the surface, there was a less positive picture, with most of the rise in employment driven by growing self-employment rather than employees, “which may not be a good thing if it reflects people struggling to find jobs”.