CREWE and Nantwich has seen a 40 per cent drop in people claiming job seekers allowance in the past year.

In September 2013, around 2,000 people were claiming benefit in Crewe. That figure has now fallen to 1,226.

The figures, released by the Office of National Statistics today, September 17, show Crewe is part of an encouraging national picture, boasting employment levels not seen since the 2007 credit crunch.

“It’s really, really good news,” said Andy Carr, district business manager for Jobcentre Plus.

“Employment is now 73 per cent, which is pre-recession levels of people in jobs.

“There are a lot more people going into part time work. However, there are a lot of people getting full time positions as well.”

Some commentators have said the increasing use of zero hour contracts has manufactured a false impression of the UK jobs market.

Mr Carr said there was ‘no denying the fact that more people are using zero hours contract work, but it’s often a temporary measure or is an arrangement that suits the employee’.

Elsewhere, he pointed to Crewe’s launch of Universal Credit as assisting people back into work and said HS2 and the forthcoming University Technical College could further boost local employment.

Nationally, the number of people claiming the main unemployment benefit - Jobseeker’s Allowance - has dropped below 1 million, and unemployment has seen the largest annual fall in a quarter of a century.

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Iain Duncan Smith said the figures showed it was ‘clear that our long-term economic plan is helping Britain to recover following one of the deepest recessions in living memory’.

What do you think? Email crewe@guardiangrp.co.uk or write to Guardian Series Newspapers, Theatre Court, Northwich, Cheshire, CW9 5HB The Jobcentre will hold an employment open day at Crewe Library on September 23.

A jobs fair will be held at Crewe Alexandra FC, featuring a range of vacancies on September 25.

National figures from the ONS:- Unemployment saw the largest annual fall in 26 years, dropping by 468,000, bringing the unemployment rate to a new 6-year low of 6.2 per cent. The employment rate, at 73 per cent, is back up to the level seen before the recession, with 30.61 million people in work.

The number claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) has been falling for the last 22 months - with 423,600 fewer claimants than a year ago - and is now below 1 million for the first time since 2008.

Young people saw the largest annual fall in unemployment since records began in 1984 – falling by 213,000 on the year.

There are now fewer young people claiming the main unemployment benefit (JSA) than just before the recession – having dropped by 133,200 in the past year and for 33 months in a row.