The number of people unemployed in the UK fell by 49,000 to 2.46 million in the three months to June, figures show.

The decline in the jobless total was the biggest drop in three years.

The number of people employed increased by 184,000, the largest quarterly rise since 1989, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

The figures also showed that the claimant count, or those out of work and seeking unemployment benefit, fell by 3,800 in July to 1.46 million.

The rise in the number of those employed was largely the result of an increase in the number of part-time workers of 115,000, taking the total to 7.84 million, the highest figure since comparable records began in 1992, the ONS said.

The number of full-time workers increased by 68,000 on the quarter to reach 21.18 million.

The overall UK unemployment rate for the three months to the end of June compared with the previous three months fell by 0.2% to 7.8%.

Within the UK, the jobless rate in Wales fell by 0.3% to 9%, in England it dropped by 0.2% to 7.7% and in Northern Ireland it also fell by 0.2% to 6.6%.

However, in Scotland, the rate increased by 0.2% to 8.4%.

The ONS also said that average pay was up by 1.3% on a year earlier, a slower annual rate of growth than in the previous three months.