THE number of people claiming benefits including Jobseekers Allowance and Universal Credit in Wirral has fallen by nearly 1,000 year-on-year.

According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, 4,025 people received the benefits in July - a drop of 917 compared to the same period in 2015.

Merseyside Jobcentre Plus spokesman Alan Harrison said: “Of all the boroughs in Merseyside, Wirral has seen the highest reduction in claimants I can remember.

“4,025 is a massive 917 decrease on this time last year. It’s great news for Wirral and I hope it is a trend that continues.”

Nationally employment has reached a record high, with 31.8m people in work in the three months to June - 172,000 more than the previous quarter.

A total of 1.64m people are unemployed - a fall of 52,000 over the quarter and 207,000 down compared with a year ago, giving a jobless rate of 4.9%.

The jobless total is now at its lowest for eight years, while the unemployment rate is at its lowest since the summer of 2005, according to the ONS.

Job vacancies were down 7,000 between May and July to 741,000, a period briefly covering Britain's vote to leave the European Union.

And average earnings increased by 2.4% in the year to June, 0.1% up on the previous month.

Employment minister Damian Hinds said: "These record-breaking figures show that there are more people in work than ever before, which is great news as we build a Britain that works for everybody, not just the privileged few.

"We're in a position of strength, but we can't be complacent, which is why we're pressing ahead with our welfare reforms like Universal Credit to ensure it always pays for people to be in work.

"The job now is to build on this success story so that everybody can benefit from the opportunities that are being created regardless of who they are or where they come from."