UK unemployment fell by 39,000 to 1.61m in the three months to the end of February, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The ONS said the employment total hit 29.5m in the quarter, the highest since records began in 1971.
The number claiming jobseeker's allowance in March fell by 1,200 to 794,300, the lowest total since 1975.

However, some analysts noted that there were signs that the UK job market could be weakening.

The ONS said the number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance in February rose by 600, instead of a previously reported fall of 2,800. This was the first rise in this total since September 2006.
The manufacturing sector continued to suffer, with 27,000 jobs lost in the three months to February, taking employment in the sector to the lowest since records began in 1978.

But elsewhere, the picture was brighter as the quarter saw the fewest redundancies since 1995 and the number of job vacancies rose strongly.
Commenting on the figures Ian Brinkley, economist at The Work Foundation, said: “Despite the jittery atmosphere about the economic outlook at the moment, the labour market still looks very solid at the moment. Employment growth across the private sector has been strong and unemployment has fallen.
“The only real signs of the credit crunch are much weaker City bonuses this year and a slight fall in employment in business services – a key UK strength - at the end of last year.”
 
The ONS said average earnings grew 3.7% in the year to February, slightly lower than the revised 3.9% increase in January.
However, stripping out the effect of bonuses, earnings growth edged up to 3.8% from 3.7% in January.