Employment rate close to a record high

Following the latest employment statistics released yesterday, the Conservative party took to Twitter to claim they showed the highest rise in the number of people in work since 1971.

They're right - February to April 2014 saw the biggest quarter on quarter rise in the number in employment since records began in 1971. The same goes for the percentage change.

Conservative MP Jesse Norman also claimed this afternoon on the BBC's Daily Politics that "employment has never been higher than it is now". But, when the UK population has also been increasing this isn't always the most useful measure.

As presenter Andrew Neil pointed out, the employment rate - which shows the proportion of people aged 16 to 64 in work - does show similar trends. But, it's not quite at the record high yet. The highest rate it's ever been on record has been 73.1% in both late 1974 and late 2004/early 2005 - in the latest statistics it reached 72.9%.