Unemployment rate has remained at its joint lowest since the 1970s, at 4.2%. The number of vacancies in the economy is 818,000. Britain has a joint record high employment rate of 75.6% with 32.39m people now in work, according to official statistics released today (12 June).

The unemployment rate is now 4.2%  – down 0.4% since last year – with the number of people out of work falling by 115,000.

The figures published by the Office for National Statistics come as Black, Asian and minority ethnic employment (BAME) is at a record high. The BAME employment gap – the difference between the employment rates of the ethnic minority population and the overall population – is at an all-time low of 10.1% points.