Jobless total falls by 45,000 The jobless total was 2.6 million in the quarter to March, the lowest since last summer, while the number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance last month was down by 13,700 to 1.59 million. The number of people in work increased by 105,000 to almost 30 million, but this was entirely due to a rise in part-time workers. Almost eight million people are now in a part-time job, the highest since records began in 1992, while those working part-time because they cannot find full-time work increased by 73,000 to a record high of 1.4 million. Self-employment has also reached a record figure of 4.1 million, up by 89,000 since the previous quarter. Average earnings increased by 0.6 per cent in the year to March, down by 0.5 percentage points on the previous month because of lower bonuses in the private sector. Average weekly pay in private firms in March was £2 lower at £460 compared to a year ago. The 13,700 fall in the so-called claimant count last month was the biggest since July 2010. But other figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that the number of people unemployed for more than a year increased by 27,000 to 887,000, the worst total since 1996. In the three months to March, a third of all unemployed people had been out of work for more than a year. The number of people unemployed for more than two years rose by 5,000 to 428,000. The UK's unemployment rate has fallen by 0.2 per cent to 8.2 per cent, lower than the European average of 10.2 per cent. Spain has the highest unemployment rate in the EU at 24.1 per cent, while Austria has the lowest at 4 per cent. Youth unemployment has also fallen, down by 17,000 over the latest quarter to 1.02 million. There were 9.25 million economically inactive people in the three months to March, a fall of 35,000, mainly due to a reduction in the number of people under the age of 65 taking retirement, as employees work longer and the female state pension age increases. Employment Minister Chris Grayling said: "These figures are a welcome step in the right direction. For a number of months now, employment has been growing and this is starting to feed through into improving unemployment figures. However, we still face significant international uncertainty so we need to hold firm on our current economic strategy and continue to do everything we can to ensure unemployment continues to fall. Paul Kenny, general secretary of the GMB union, said: "That there are 2.63 million people without jobs shows the extent to which the Government's gamble with the economy has failed. So instead of borrowing to support the economy and to continue the recovery the Government has had to borrow to fund the recession. We have spent the last two years going backwards and this is why the electorate have voted down this failed policy. John Salt, director at totaljobs.com, said: "Today's statistics are proof, if it were needed, that not all that glitters is gold. The fall in unemployment barely dents the ranks of the jobless, whilst the number of under-employed - those forced into part-time work or self-employment - continues to grow relentlessly. There is simply not the consumer demand nor the business confidence that would prompt the private sector investment needed to offset previous job cuts. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "Today's figures are mixed, with the welcome fall in unemployment driven entirely by part-time jobs. However the collapse in wagesis terrible news for those in work and threatens our chances of an economic recovery. The falling number of full-time jobs and the 6 per cent fall in real wages over the last two years means that people are having to make huge salary sacrifices and put their careers on hold just to stay in work. People's incomes and job security today are barely any better than they were at the height of the financial crash. Unless governments act together and stop our austerity misery spiral, the UK's economic depression will continue for far longer than feared. Ian Brinkley, director at The Work Foundation, said: "These are surprising but very welcome figures. Claims that further deregulation of the labour market is needed to stimulate job generation look to be unjustified. Private sector employers clearly felt confident enough to hire in large numbers over the three months to March 2012. However, the overall numbers disguise some underlying weaknesses. The economy is still shedding full-time jobs, with all the increase accounted for by part-time work. The latest figures confirm that underemployment is emerging as a significant problem in the UK labour market, with the number of people in part-time work because they could not find a full-time job up by 33 per cent over the past two years. Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, said: "The small fall in unemployment is cold comfort for the millions of people who cannot find work. Every job lost is a personal tragedy and it's still women and young people who are bearing the brunt of the recession. Unemployment may have fallen but we still face the worst jobs crisis in a generation. A huge growth in part-time working and in people accepting lower pay is masking the real impact of austerity. No wonder growth has stalled and we are back in recession. We need real action to boost growth and create jobs to jump-start the UK out of recession. Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: "The overall figures massage the reality that hundreds of thousands of part-time workers, eager for full-time jobs, are being denied that opportunity because of the failure of the Government to stimulate demand and growth. The Chancellor has created a part-time, low-pay Britain with his austerity programme - a political path that is increasingly being rejected by other European countries, France being the most prominent example. The scale of youth unemployment, still at over a million, is a national scandal - a whole generation being sacrificed because of Osborne's narrow and short-sighted economic views. John Walker, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: "It is good news that unemployment has fallen slightly and that self-employment is also on the rise, but we are not out of the woods yet. For small firms to make these jobs into permanent, full-time roles, the Government must put long-term measures in place to instil this emerging optimism. Prime Minister David Cameron's official spokesman said: "It is still a very challenging economic situation. Clearly a fall in unemployment is something that we should welcome. We are putting in place a number of measures to support people who find themselves unemployed and doing everything we can to ensure unemployment continues to fall, but it is still a tough economic situation. Asked whether the Prime Minister was concerned at the proportion of new jobs which are part-time, the spokesman said: "It is a tough economic situation at the moment and when businesses are making judgments about whether to hire people, they can see that too, and they can see the problems in the eurozone. That uncertainty is having an impact on confidence. We believe it is better that people are in some form of employment rather than being out of work, because it means that they are getting that experience and the skills they need to secure a permanent job if that is what they want. Unemployment in the regions between January to March was: Region; Total unemployed; Change on quarter; Unemployment rate North East; 148,000; plus 6,000; 11.5 per cent North West; 329,000; plus 11,000; 9.6 per cent Yorkshire/Humber; 241,000; minus 24,000; 9 per cent East Midlands; 182,000; minus 6,000; 7.8 per cent West Midlands; 228,000; minus 19,000; 8.5 per cent East; 207,000; minus 6,000; 6.7 per cent London; 426,000; minus 1,000; 10.1 per cent South East; 279,000; plus 1,000; 6.2 per cent South West; 175,000 plus; 10,000; 6.5 per cent Wales; 132,000; minus 1,000; 9 per cent Scotland; 221,000; minus 10,000; 8.2 per cent N Ireland; 57,000; minus 5,000; 6.7 per cent