New figures show the rate of unemployment has fallen below 7% for the first time since the recession. The number of people out of work dropped by 77,000 in the last three months, while total employment has seen the biggest annual jump in a generation.

There are now more people in work than ever before, with nearly 0.7 million more people in employment since this time last year, showing that the Lib Dem plan to create a million jobs is working.

There’s also good news on salaries, with wages rising an average of 1.7% since last year, while inflation has dropped to 1.6%. Coupled with the Lib Dem £700 tax cut, which was delivered last month, this means that working people get to keep more of their take home pay, helping to ease the squeeze on family budgets.

Commenting on these figures, Danny Alexander, the Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury said:

“These figures are some of the strongest evidence yet that we are embedding the recovery. We have record numbers in work and unemployment falling at the fastest rate in over a decade. With earnings now rising in line with prices and employment rising, these figures reinforce the fact that the only way to higher living standards is to take the difficult decisions needed to deliver our long term economic plan.

There is still a great deal more to do, but today’s announcement is solid progress on building the stronger economy in a fairer society that Liberal Democrats entered coalition to deliver.”