UNEMPLOYMENT fell in Cumbria last month, official statistics show.

There were 4,495 job hunters claiming Jobseeker's Allowance or the new Universal Credit, 55 fewer than in June, making up 1.5 per cent of the county's workforce.

Five of the county's six districts saw their jobless totals fall while in one - Eden - it remained static.

The biggest fall was in Barrow, where the figure changed from 1,110 claimants to 1,090.

Copeland was next with a fall from 895 claimants to 880.

In Carlisle the jobless total fell from 920 to 910, in Allerdale from 1,080 to 1,075 and in South Lakeland 335 to 325.

Eden's jobless figure remained at 210 people.

Compared to July last year there are 145 fewer claimants in Cumbria.

Jennifer Metherell, external relations manager with Jobcentre Plus, said: "At the moment it is very positive."

She pointed out that the jobless figures at this time of year usually rise as school leavers and university graduates enter the labour market. The number of 18-24-year-old claimants has risen in each district but the overall totals have still fallen.

"Working in a jobcentre it feels busy, people are coming in and signing off and the way we are working feels much better because we are working more closely with employers."

Rob Johnston, the chief executive of Cumbria Chamber of Commerce, welcomed the news.

"The fact that unemployment is falling is good news for everyone and it demonstrates that the economy is working and working well."

Nationally, the employment rate reached a record high of 74.5 per cent, 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 in the UK 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 per cent.

Office for National Statistics statistician David Freeman said: “The labour market continued on a strong trend in the second quarter of 2016, with a new record employment rate."

He pointed out though that there was little data relating to the period after the UK's vote to leave the EU.