Sir Jim Paice has welcomed news that unemployment has again fallen in his South East Cambridgeshire constituency.

The number of unemployed claimants in SE Cambs has fallen to 607 - which represents about one per cent of the economically active population aged between 16 and 64 in the area.

The figures, released last Wednesday, by the Office for National Statistics, show that the number of unemployed claimants in the area is 522 lower than in June 2013 and 73 lower than in May 2014.

Sir Jim’s constituency has one of the lowest rates of unemployment in Britain, coming in at 618 out of 650 constituencies.

Nationally, the level of unemployment fell by 121,000 to 2.12m in the three months to May. The national unemployment rate now stands at 6.5 per cent.

Sir Jim, who is standing down at the next general election, said: “South East Cambridgeshire has one of the lowest levels of unemployment anywhere in the country, but this good news must not disguise the need to continue to build our economic recovery to help those who are still out of work.

“That is why I support the continued efforts of this Government in increasing apprenticeships so that our young people can have a real start to their working lives.”