Unemployment fell by 36,000 in the first three months of 2011 despite the economy's lacklustre rate of growth.
The Office for National Statistics said the number of people out of work on the government's preferred International Labour Organisation measure fell to 2.46m, taking the unemployment rate to 7.7%, from 7.8%.
But the number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance rose 12,400 to 1.46 million in April 2011.
