Figures released this week show the number of people unemployed has fallen in Watford by 34 per cent.

For the first time since 2008, there are now under two million people unemployed in the UK, according to the statistcs published by the Office for National Stastics (ONS).

This is the largest fall in unemployment since records began 40 years ago.

The unemployment rate has also falled from 7.7 per cent last year to six per cent.

In Watford, there are 542 fewer jobseeker's allowance (JSA) claimants than a year ago, which includes 65 fewer young people.

The number of young people aged 18-24, claiming JSA has seen the largest annual fall in unemployment, falling by over a quarter of a million since last year.

There are now 468,000 unemployed young people across the UK. Watford has seen a fall of 22 per cent of unemployed 18-24 year-olds.

Derek Cockerill, customer services operation manager for Jobcentre plus in Watford said: "In Watford there are a number of schemes to help people get into work. We work with the princes trust, which is aimed particularly at 18-24 year-olds and getting them into work. Watford FC have also partnered with Camelot, and they hold eight, four weeks courses for 16-24 year-olds, to help them build the skills necessary to work."

He added: "There is a continuous upward trend and there are now numerous vacancies out there and this was evident in the jobs fair that we held.

"We had roughly 19 employers turn up with over 1000 vacancies. And over 800 people turned up to the event too. It is all great news for the residents here."