The number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance across the region fell by over 5pc from the start of the year, outperforming largely stagnant figures across the UK as a whole.

In May the total number of claimants in the UK was 1,504,913, down only marginally from 1,505,068 in January.

But in our region that number fell significantly to 25,789, from 27,302 at the start of the year.

That represents a drop of more than 5pc from the start of the year, and almost 3pc alone since April.

The total for May this year dropped more than 2pc from the same month in 2010 and 9pc on 2009.

In Great Yarmouth the figure fell from 3,799 at the start of the year to 3,210, a drop of 15pc.

However, in Norwich, the number of claimants rose slightly to 4,363 from 4,203 in January, a rise of almost 4pc.

According to official figures released today, unemployment - a different measure to the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance - fell by 88,000 over the last quarter, the biggest drop in a decade.

Government figures suggest that this takes the total number of people out of work to 2.43m.

For more analysis on job figures read the EDP's business section tomorrow