Jobless total continues to slide

The UK's labour market remains resilient

Unemployment in Britain fell by 33,000 in the three months to January to 1,436,000, official figures have shown.

This ILO measure of joblessness, the favoured government method of gauging unemployment, is now just short of a numerical low set in March to May 2001.

And the jobless rate is now 4.8%, the lowest percentage rate unemployed since records began in 1984.

Meanwhile, the number of people claiming unemployment benefit fell by 6,600 to 885,200 in February.

Wage bonuses

Average UK earnings rose by 4.4% in the year to January - up by 0.9% from the previous month - the Office for National Statistics reported.

That was the highest since September 2001, and the ONS said the jump in earnings was mainly driven by bonuses in the financial services sector.

They were generally higher than a year ago, but some paid later than a year ago in January and some paid earlier than a year ago, leading to a concentration of bonuses.

The jobless figures are a gift to Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, who is presenting his annual budget at 1230 GMT.

"The labour market continues to benefit from the strength of the economy.

"The only disappointing element continues to be the decline in manufacturing employment," said Howard Archer, economist at Global Insight.