Unemployment figures in Derbyshire revealed

The UK employment rate is at its highest in more than 44 years.

Although several studies point out that Brexit is damaging consumer confidence, employers across the country keep hiring, pushing the UK employment rate to its highest in more than 44 years.

The latest ONS data shows that 4% of people aged between 16 and 64 and actively looking for a job were unemployed in North East Derbyshire in 2018 – around 2,000 people.

Those figures were worked out as a monthly average across the year.

That's slightly lower than the average across England, where it was 4.1%. In the UK as a whole, unemployment stood at 4.2%.

More people were out of work in North East Derbyshire than in 2017, when the rate was 3.5%.

There were a further 11,000 people on average considered inactive in the area last year, as they were not actively seeking work for at least four weeks.

Addressing the national statistics, the ONS's deputy head of labour market statistics Matt Hughes said: "The jobs market remains robust, with the number of people in work continuing to grow.

"The increase over the past year is all coming from full-timers, both employees and the self-employed.

He added: "Earnings have now been growing ahead of inflation for over a year, but in real terms, wage levels have not yet returned to their pre-downturn peak."

Across the UK, Hartlepool had the highest unemployment rate in 2018, with nearly one in ten people out of work. Eden and South Lakeland, in the North West of England, were the areas with the lowest proportion – only 1.8% of the total.

Alok Sharma, the minister of state for employment, said recent unemployment figures show the underlying resilience of the British economy.

He said: "The UK jobs market continues to go from strength to strength but we must not take this for granted.

"We need to work urgently to get behind a Brexit deal that protects this jobs record and gives employers the certainty to continue to invest in their workforce and boost wages.

"With more people in work than ever before, it is welcome news that wages are continuing to rise at their fastest rate in a decade.

"And by increasing the living wage and personal tax allowance for 2019, this government is putting more money in people’s pocket, benefiting millions of families across the country."

Full-time workers in North East Derbyshire earned a median weekly salary of £570 in 2018, compared to £575 across England.