The number of people claiming unemployment benefits fell unexpectedly last month, figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show.

The number of Britons claiming Jobseeker's Allowance dropped by 32,300 to 1.59m in February, the biggest monthly fall since 1997.

Economists expected the number of people out of work and claiming Jobseeker's Allowance to rise by 8,000.

In the three month between November and January, unemployment dropped by 33,000 to 2.45m, leaving the jobless rate at 7.8%.

However, long-term unemployment, which includes those out of work for over a year, jumped by 61,000 to 687,000.

Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight, believes it is premature to sound the all-clear on the jobs front.

"We suspect the labour market may well be somewhat erratic in the near term at least, with some months of unemployment gains and some of losses."

"There remains the risk that unless the economy gains significant momentum in the near term, a significant number of firms may well decide that they really cannot hold on to some of their workers any longer," he added.

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