Unemployment has fallen by another 5,000 as the number of people in work continues to break records, new figures showed.

The number out of work between September and November fell by 5,000 to 1,515,000, a jobless rate of 5.2 per cent, unchanged from the previous quarter.

The Office for National Statistics also reported that the number of people claiming unemployment benefit was cut last month by 5,800 to 928,300, a rate of 3.1 per cent, the lowest figures since records began in 1975.

Employment has continued to increase, with a record 27,778,000 people in work in the three months to November, an increase of 223,000 over the year.

The employment rate went up by 0.2 per cent to 74.6 per cent and the figures are the best since records started in 1984.

Average earnings increased by 3.8 per cent in the year to November, up by 0.1 per cent from the previous month, with public sector growth continuing to outstrip increases in private firms.

But there was gloomier news, with other figures showing another huge cut in the number of manufacturing jobs and a massive rise in the number of days lost through industrial disputes.