Britain's unemployment rate declined to 5.2% in the three months to December, the latest official data shows today.
That was the lowest reading since January 2006 and compared with 5.3% in the three months to November.
Under the International Labour Organiaation (ILO) measure of unemployment, the rate stood at 5.3% for the three months to December.
The ILO claimant count fell by 61,000 during the three months to December to 1.61 million, Britain's Office for National Statistics said.
According to the British government's preferred measure of unemployment, the rate stood at 2.5% in January, the lowest level since April 1975, and unchanged from December.
The claimant count dropped by 10,800 to 794,600 people in January from December, to record the lowest level since June, 1975. That marked the sixteenth monthly drop in a row.
