Figures released by the Office for National Statistics have revealed that unemployment was 2.63m in Jan-Mar, down 45,000 on the previous three months. Employment stands at 29.23m, meaning that 70.5% of people aged 16 and over are in employment.

Other figures showed that people aged 16 and over who are inactive has also decreased to 9.25m, or 23%, and people who are claiming benefits in relation to searching to work had also decreased to 1.59m, a reduction of 13,700.

A break down of the increase in employment figures shows that the positive change was entirely driven by an increase in part-time employment. All 105,000 new jobs between January and March 2012 were for part time roles, as well as 13,000 previous full-time positions being changed to part-time roles.

7.99 million people now work part-time in the UK, the highest since comparable records began in 1992. There has been a significant increase since the beginning of the recession in 2007, as of the beginning of this year those in part-time employment stood at 18%.