South West unemployment has seen the largest drop in the UK after falling by 41,000.
Some 136,000 people were out of work in the six county-wide region, representing a fall of 1.6% in the quarter to March – the biggest drop of nine English regions and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The jobless total was also down on the same time last year, with 31,000 fewer people looking for work, a reduction of 1.2%.
Unemployment across the region now stands at 4.9% – lower than any UK region and national average of 6.8%. By contrast, the figure stands at 10.1% in the North East.
