Cumbria has recorded a hattrick of falls in unemployment.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), there were 5,660 people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance or Universal Credit in July – a drop of 55 compared to revised figures for June.

It is the third month in a row that unemployment has fallen, reversing five months of consecutive rises.

In July, four of Cumbria’s six districts saw falls in the number of claims made.

The biggest falls was recorded in Barrow and Copeland, which both saw a drop of 25 claims made, taking the total number of claimants to 970 (2.4 per cent of the population) and 1,300 (3.1 per cent of the population) respectively.

South Lakeland saw another fall, with 15 fewer claims made, taking the total to 350 (0.6 per cent), while Eden saw a drop of 10 claims made, taking the total to 250 (0.8 per cent).

However, both Carlisle and Allerdale saw the number of claims increase by 10.

It takes the total number of claimants to 1,100 (1.7 per cent) for Cumbria’s capital and 1,690 (2.9 per cent) for its neighbouring borough in the north west of the county.

Nationally, unemployment has reached a 40-year low, while there has been a record fall in the number of EU nationals working in the UK.

There were 2.28 million EU nationals working in this country in the quarter to June, 86,000 fewer than a year earlier, the largest annual decrease since records began in 1997.

Unemployment fell by 65,000 in the latest quarter to 1.36 million, the lowest figure since 1976, giving a jobless rate of four per cent.

The number of people in work continued to increase - up by 42,000 to 32.39 million, although the rate remained at 75 per cent, said the Office for National Statistics.

Job vacancies increased by 20,000 to a record high of 829,000, while average earnings increased by 2.4 per cent in the year to June, down from 2.5 per cent the previous month.

The number of workers on zero-hours contracts fell by 104,000 over the past year to 780,000, the first substantial fall since the ONS started tracking the figures in 2000.

The percentage of workers employed on a zero-hours contract is now 2.4 per cent down from 2.8 per cent a year ago.

Senior ONS statistician Matt Hughes said: "The number of people in work has continued to edge ahead, though the employment rate was unchanged on the quarter.

"The growth in employment is still being driven by UK nationals, with a noticeable drop over the past year in the number of workers from the so-called A8 eastern European countries in particular."

The number of people classed as economically inactive, including students, those on long-term sick leave, taken early retirement or who have given up looking for work, increased by 77,000 to 8.7 million in the latest quarter, giving a rate of 21.2 per cent.

The claimant count, which includes people on Jobseeker's Allowance and the unemployment element of Universal Credit, increased by 6,200 last month to 906,100, almost 108,000 more than a year ago.

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Esther McVey said: "With the unemployment rate falling further to just four per cent and youth unemployment down over 45 per cent since 2010, school leavers this week can look forward to a growing jobs market, improving the prospects for their future careers.

"In fact the UK's vibrant jobs market is benefiting people across the board. Record rates of ethnic minority people in work also show that more families across our society are benefiting from the security of a job, with wages also on the increase.

"We have some of the most creative, innovative and hard-working young people in the world and this summer I've been urging them to take on a summer job, gaining 'soft skills' - or as I call them, essential skills - for their future careers."