Lowest ever number of workless households '“ Government

The latest set of figures show that the number of households across the region in which no-one has a job has dropped to 391,000 – down by 46,000 in the past year and by 100,000 since 2010.

Employment Minister Damian Hinds said: “We’re absolutely committed to delivering a country that works for everybody, and the fact that the number of workless households in the North West has continued to fall shows that we’re making real progress.

“Welfare reforms like the Benefit Cap and Universal Credit are helping people to take control of their own lives and are incentivising work.

“With more than 3.3m people in employment across the North West – up by 67,000 in the past year alone - there are plenty of opportunities out there.”

This picture has been replicated across the country as a whole with the number of workless households falling by nearly 200,000 in the past year to 3.1m – the lowest level since records began.