Unemployment has fallen to its lowest level for a year after a big jump in the number of people in work, new figures showed today.
The jobless total fell by 46,000 in the quarter to June to 2.56 million, an unemployment rate of 8%.
The number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance last month was 1.59 million, down by 5,900 on June, said the Office for National Statistics.
Most of the quarterly fall in unemployment was recorded in London, suggesting a big jobs boost from the Olympic Games.
Other figures showed that the number of part-time workers has reached a record high of 8.07 million while those working part-time because they cannot find a full-time job is 1.42 million, the highest figure since records began in 1992.
But Dave Prentis, Unison general secretary, said people could expect to see a return to growing unemployment figures once the summer ends.
“This small fall is welcome, but there will be no lasting Olympics’ legacy in the jobs market. The end of thousands of temporary jobs will see unemployment climbing after the summer.
Students waiting for A Level results this week face a bleak jobs future. They are set to join the dole queues in high numbers as the hike in tuition fees has priced many thousands of young people out of their dream of going to university or into further education."
Wednesday's ONS figures also showed average earnings increased by 1.6% in the year to June, up by 0.1% on the previous month.
The number of people in work increased by 201,000 to almost 30 million, the highest since last summer, with half of the rise coming in London.
Youth unemployment fell by 4,000 to just over a million.