New figures published by the Office for National Statistics today show a rise in employment, up 105,000 to 29.23m.

Employment has now been rising since last autumn.

This is complemented by another fall in unemployment, down by 45,000 on the quarter, to 2.63 million.

There has also been a fall in the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance, down 13,700 between March and April 2012.

Following a revision to the figures published last month, there was also a fall of 5,400 between February and March.

This is despite welfare reforms such as Incapacity Benefit reassessment that are leading to more people who previously claimed other benefits moving onto JSA.

Today's figures also show signs of improvement in youth unemployment.

The number of 16 to 24-year-olds who have left full-time education and are seeking work is now 707,000, down 24,000 on the quarter.

The number of full-time students looking for a job is 314,000. This comes at the same time as the Department for Work and Pensions releases figures showing almost 50,000 18 to 24 year olds have undertaken a work experience placement since January 2011.

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."

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