Full employment is within our grasp for the first time in a generation

Tony Blair

Prime Minister Tony Blair greeted the figures, saying that "full employment is within our grasp for the first time in a generation".

However, another measure to count unemployment, the so-called ILO labour force survey, is still well above that mark, falling by 81,000 to 1,535,000 - an unemployment rate of 5.2%.

When the Labour party came into government, it said it preferred the ILO count - which is an internationally accepted measurement - over the claimant count.

Unemployment is currently falling in most Western countries, reaching a 30-year low in the United States, and slowly dropping in most economies of the European Union.

Workforce record

Another record was set for the number of people holding a job. The UK workforce is now 28.09m people strong, the highest level in UK history.

The number of jobless last fell below one million in 1975, when the figure was 997,100 and the average weekly wage was �54, compared with �410 today.

The average inflation rate back then was 24.9%, compared with the current underlying rate of 1.8%.

The number of people claiming the jobseekers allowance had fallen steadily over the past few months, and economists did predict that the one million mark would be reached in early spring.

Boosting employment

To mark the fall to six-figure unemployment, the government unveiled a package of new measures to bring people back into work.

They include an extension of the flagship New Deal jobs scheme, which has so far helped 270,000 young people find employment.

The long-term unemployed and drug addicts are also expected to be targeted.

Before the figures were published, John Monks, general secretary of the TUC, said it would be "great news if unemployment dips below the one million mark."

"It is another step on the road to full employment and is in stark contrast to the 80s and 90s when full employment was regarded as an unacceptable dream," he added.