The Prime Minister led praise of the UK's jobs record after new figures showed unemployment had reached a new low and more people were in work than for decades.

Tony Blair said one more person was in work every two minutes the Government had been in power.

The Government said there were now more people in work in the UK than ever before, up 300,000 in the past year and 1.9 million higher than seven years ago.

But the Liberal Democrats highlighted other figures showing manufacturing jobs were at their lowest level since records began in 1978.

Paul Holmes, the party's employment spokesman, said: "It is a shocking indictment of this Government that they are presiding over the worst ever decline in manufacturing."

A total of 1.41 million people were jobless in the three months to March, a fall of 48,000 over the quarter and the lowest figure for 20 years, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.

The number of people claiming unemployment benefit fell by 6,000 in April to 876,300, the best figure since August 1975.

The unemployment rate now stands at 4.7 per cent, the lowest since records began 20 years ago, while the number of people out of work has fallen by 91,000 over the past year.

The number of so-called economically inactive people, including those not looking for a job or who do not want to work, fell by 80,000 in the latest quarter to 7.76 million.

The number of people in work reached 28.35 million in March, a rise of 195,000 over the quarter and the highest figure since records began in 1984.

Average earnings increased by 5.2 per cent in the year to March, up 0.3 per cent on the previous month and the highest figure since June 2001.

However, jobs in manufacturing firms continued to fall, by 101,000 in the past year to 3.4 million, the lowest since 1978.

Brendan Barber, TUC general secretary, said: "The job market continues to go from strength to strength but manufacturing workers are still losing their jobs in droves.

"UK economic growth depends on a manufacturing recovery and these figures show it was premature to suggest the sector was out of the woods.

"There is no room for complacency. Companies need to invest more and Government investment must rise to the level of our European competitors."

Thursday May 13, 2004