Unemployment in the UK has fallen for the 10th month in a row.

The claimant count tumbled 21,900 to 1.164m, the lowest total since March 1980.

The Office for National Statistics figures show that 4% of the workforce were out of work and claiming benefit.

The fall was twice as big as analysts had expected.

But according to the government's preferred way of counting - the Labour Force Survey - there was a rise of 11,000 between September and November, to 1,726,000.

The Labour Force Survey is an method of counting unemployment, widely used around the world, which comes from the Geneva-based International Labour Organization.

The survey includes large groups of people who are not eligible for benefit, such as women whose husbands are in work.

Earnings stable

Under the traditional calculations, unemployment has been dropping steadily for a year.

The ONS also said earnings growth remained steady at 4.9% in the three months to November, in line with expectations.

The Bank of England considers a figure above 4.5% to be "incompatible" with its 2.5% target for underlying inflation and may be tempted to raise interest rates again.

The ONS said manufacturing sector earnings growth had picked up, reflecting the continued high overtime paid by many firms.

A slowdown in the service sector was due to smaller bonuses than in the previous year in the property, renting and other business service sector and in retail.