Unemployment has fallen to its lowest level for more than six years and pay rises have continued to outstrip inflation, new figures have shown.

The jobless total fell by 58,000 between September and November to 1.91 million, the lowest since autumn 2008, while a record 30m people are in work, said the Office for National Statistics. 

In the South West the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance fell in December by 7,000 to 120,000, meaning that 4.4% of the working age population is out of work.

Nationally the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance fell in December by 29,600 to 867,000, the 26th consecutive monthly cut.

Job vacancies have also reached a record - up by 19,000 to 700,000.

Average earnings increased by 1.7% in the year to November, up by 0.3% on the previous month. Pay started outstripping inflation at the end of last year.

Unemployment has fallen by 418,000 over the past year, although the latest quarterly reduction was the smallest since July to September 2013.

The jobless rate is now 5.8% compared with 7.1% a year ago.

Despite the good news on unemployment, there was another increase in the number of people classed as economically inactive, up by 66,000 to more than nine million.

The total includes people on long-term sick leave, looking after a relative or who have given up looking for work.

Long-term unemployment has also fallen, down by 185,000 to 658,000 among those out of work for over a year, while the number of jobless 16 to 24-year-olds increased by 30,000 to 764,000 - the first quarterly rise since June-August 2013.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: "This is another strong set of figures showing more people in work, showing that our unemployment rate in Britain is now around half the level in the Eurozone.

"And of course behind these figures lie real stories of people who have been able to find a job, to get work, and to provide the security and stability for themselves and their families that I want for everyone in this country. It demonstrates that our long-term economic plan is working.

"Nine out of 10 of the jobs that have been created in the last year are full-time jobs and we are helping every family by cutting their taxes and making sure everybody can earn £10,000 before they pay any income tax at all.

"With an economy that is growing, a long-term plan that is working, more and more people able to find work, I believe we are delivering the security and stability for families that I want for everyone in our country."

And Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said: "We have reached an important milestone in this country's jobs-led recovery - with unemployment falling below six per cent for the first time in six years. Welfare reform has played an instrumental part in this."

Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said: "Today's larger than expected fall in unemployment shows that our jobs rich recovery remains on track.

"We're continuing to buck the European trend with strong growth and record job creation, and with earnings continuing to outstrip inflation, the benefits of the recovery are starting to flow into people's wage packets"

But Paul Kenny, general secretary of the GMB union, said: "The 'jobs factory' in Britain the Prime Minister talks about is creating mainly low-skilled, low-paid and precarious jobs that reflect economic growth linked to the growth in the population.

"GDP per head is still 3% below 2007 levels and is the reason most workers have seen little or no evidence of any recovery.

"The fall in oil prices is providing hard-pressed families with the first relief they have experienced since the onset of the recession nearly seven years ago."

And Shadow work and pensions secretary Rachel Reeves said: "Today's fall in overall unemployment is welcome, but wages remain sluggish and working people are £1,600 a year worse off since 2010.

"The Tory cost-of-living crisis and the Tory low-wage economy has left millions of people who do the right thing, work and contribute struggling to make ends meet and pay the bills.

"David Cameron and George Osborne's failure to tackle low pay is making it far harder to get the deficit down with income tax receipts across the Parliament £70 billion lower than forecast in 2010."

David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: "These figures again confirm that the UK labour market remains a key strength for the UK, but there are some areas of concern.

"Although employment is up and unemployment is down, the quarterly changes were the lowest since 2013, supporting the view that the UK economy may be gradually slowing.

"It is also disappointing that youth unemployment, after a long period of steady decline, increased between September and November 2014. While youth unemployment is markedly lower than a year ago we cannot ignore the fact that it remains consistently higher than the adult unemployment rate.

"The modest upturn in average earnings growth is a positive development - earnings are also increasing at a faster rate than prices and real living standards are improving.

"However, wage growth will only be sustainable if it is matched by increased productivity. Equally, earning increases remain below 2% and do not provide any justification for considering an interest rate rise. The focus of economic policy must remain on sustaining and improving economic growth."

The TUC's head of economics, Nicola Smith said: "After years of falling living standards, today's real earnings growth suggests that we may finally be starting to make up some of the lost ground. But at this rate of progress it will still be at least another parliament before wages are even back to where they were before the crisis. Households are still far worse off today than they were five years ago.

"There are now concerning signs that young people are being left behind, with long-term youth unemployment failing to improve. Far more must be done to ensure that young people are protected from the damaging effects of long periods out of work.

"With the IMF downgrading its UK growth forecast this week, it's far from clear that this is a recovery built to last. We need stronger, sustained growth in wages and a far better balanced recovery to ensure that living standards are protected in the years ahead."