UK unemployment falls by 51,000

Unemployment in the UK fell by 51,000 to 2.61 million in the three months to April, official figures have shown.

The jobless rate fell to 8.2%, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

But the claimant count – the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance – increased by 8,100 in May compared with April, to 1.60 million.

Overall, there were 29.28 million people in work, up 166,000 on the previous quarter. That was the largest quarterly increase since August 2010.