THE number of people claiming unemployment benefits in Wirral fell again last month.

Data from the Office for National Statistics shows the claimant count dropped to 4,290 in October, a fall of 55 on the previous month.

According to the ONS, unemployment nationally the number of people in work has fallen by 14,000, the biggest reduction in over two years, figures have shown.

Employment was just over 32 million in the quarter to September after the largest three-monthly fall since April-June 2015.

Reflecting on the figures, Merseyside JobcentrePlus spokesman Clive Morris told the Globe: "It's a positive picture of a buoyant jobs’ market.

“The unemployment rate, nationally, is at its lowest rate since 1975, which is great news.

“In Wirral, we have seen a seasonal boost in telesales jobs, but the hospitality and care sectors are still strong.

"There is also a fall in the numbers of zero hours contracts, with people taking up more permanent positions."

Mr Morris added that the figure will drop further after the Government’s Universal Credit is rolled out across Wirral today.

ONS statistician Matt Hughes said: "After two years of almost uninterrupted growth, employment has declined slightly.

"However, it remains higher than it was this time last year, and as always we would caution people against reading too much into one quarter’s data.”

Other figures showed that the number of EU nationals working in the UK increased by 112,000 to 2.38 million in the latest quarter compared with a year ago, while non-EU nationals fell by 23,000 to 1.21 million.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: "This is the seventh month in a row that prices have risen faster than wages, but ministers are still standing on the sidelines.

"Running the economy is not a spectator sport – the Chancellor must have a game plan to give Britain a pay rise in next week’s Budget."