According the Office of National Statistics, the number of unemployed dropped by 46,000 people to a total of 2.56 million in the three months to June - its lowest since July 2011.
The rate of unemployment fell from 8.2% in the last quarter to 8.0%, and the numbers claiming JSA (Jobseeker's Allowance) in July dropped by nearly 6,000 to a total of 1.59 million.


According to the BBC:
The number of people working part-time because they could not find a full-time job hit a record high. It was up 16,000 in the three months to June to 1.42 million, which was the highest figure since records began in 1992.

Government ministers were in dispute over the figures.

"The robustness of these figures is good news," said Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith.

"These are positive and encouraging figures demonstrating the strength of our private sector - notwithstanding the difficult economic times it is still creating jobs, the vast majority of which are full time. Unemployment is falling and the claimant count is down."

Shadow work and pensions secretary Liam Byrne disagreed: "It looks like about 90% of the fall in unemployment has been in London where there has obviously been a boost from the Olympics."

"In about half of Britain's regions you've got unemployment going up. I think the government needs to act now to to put a lot more fuel in the tank of its back to work programmes before things get any worse."

The number of people in employment climbed by 201,000 to a four-year high of 29.5m in the second quarter, the biggest increase since 2010. The full report is available here.