Britain’s employment picture remained bright during the period including the first month after the Brexit vote, with unemployment continuing to fall and a record number of people in work.

The employment rate remained at a record high of 74.5 per cent, with 31.8 million people in work in the three months to July - 174,000 more than the previous quarter.

A total of 1.63 million people are unemployed - a fall of 39,000 during the quarter and 190,000 down compared with a year ago, giving a jobless rate of 4.9 per cent.

The claimant count, including Jobseeker’s Allowance, jumped by 2,400 to 771,000 between July and August, the Office for National Statistics said.

The single month Labour Force Survey for July recorded an unemployment rate of 4.7 per cent, down 0.4 per cent compared with the month before, while the unemployment level dropped by 154,000 to 1.6 million over the period.

Job vacancies were up 3,000 to 752,000 between June and August, which includes two months after Britain voted to leave the European Union.

Average earnings increased by 2.3 per cent in the year to July, 0.2 per cent down on the previous month

 Nick Palmer, ONS statistician, said: “These figures show continued labour market improvement, with the employment rate remaining at a record high and inactivity at a new record low.

“The headline Labour Force Survey and earnings data are for May to July, so cover one month since the result of the EU referendum became known.”

Damian Green, work and pensions secretary, said: “It’s great to see another record-breaking set of figures out this month with the unemployment rate at a ten-year low and wages growing healthily.

“We know that there are fewer children living in workless households too, which underlines our efforts to help people move into employment and to build a Britain that works for everyone, not just the privileged few.

“But there’s more to do, and we will continue to work with businesses to help more people take up the wealth of opportunities out there in the economy.”