The unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level since records began while City bonuses have taken earnings growth to 4.8 per cent.

National Statistics said that the number of Britons without work fell by 33,000 to 1.436 million in the November to January period.

The unemployment rate, at 4.8 per cent, was the lowest since at least 1984, when National Statistics began collecting the data, and represents a boost for Gordon Brown ahead of his Budget speech later today.

The number of claimants of unemployment benefit dropped by 6,600 to 885,200, the lowest figure since 1975.

Among those employed, salaries grew on average at an annual rate of 4.4 per cent in January, near the 4.5 per cent rate viewed by the Bank of England as posing an inflationary threat.

The increase, from a rate of 3.5 per cent in December, was, however, attributed to a one-off surge related to generous City bonuses after the revival in profits in the financial services industry last year. Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC set successive records for UK bank profits.

Excluding bonuses, wage growth rose by only 0.1 percentage points to 3.6 per cent.

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