UNEMPLOYMENT in York has fallen to its lowest level in almost four years.

Latest figures show the number of people claiming JobSeekers Allowance fell in the York council area by almost 200 between August and September to 3,057, or 2.2 per cent of those eligible to claim.

The last time the figure was this low was in January 2009, when there were 3,032 claimants, or 2.2 per cent of those eligible.

There were also improvements in other parts of North and East Yorkshire, albeit not quite as striking.

In the North Yorkshire County Council area, the number of claimants fell by 215 to 2.3 per cent of those eligible. This was the lowest since June last year, when there were 8,649 claimants.

In the Selby district, the number of claimants fell by 52 to 1,424, or 2.7 per cent of those eligible, the lowest figure since November 2010 when there were 1,410 claimants.

Nigel Adams, MP for Selby and Ainsty, said: "I welcome yet another fall in local unemployment which is very good news for the district. I'm also hopeful that my recent Jobs fair will have a further positive impact on the jobless figures in the months ahead."

In Ryedale, the number of claimants fell by 51 to 615, or 1.9 per cent of those eligible, but the figure was slightly lower there in July, when there were 610 claimants.

In the East Riding of Yorkshire Council area, the numnber fell by 96 to 6,595, or 3.1 per cent of those eligible, the lowest since August last year.

Nationwide, employment reached a record high last month of almost 30 million, and unemployment fell by 50,000 between June and August to 2.53million, whjile youth unemployment has also dropped below the 1 million mark.