THE fall in unemployment across Worcestershire in the past year has been hailed as "quite remarkable".

Data released by the Office for National Statistics for the county as a whole, show the claimant count - the number of people picking up JSA - has dropped by 2,749.

Jamie Jacobsen from Jobcentre Plus praised the county's achievement in the past 12 months.

He said: "The figures are quite remarkable.

"Worcestershire as a whole has a very vibrant economy and more vacancies are coming from new companies moving into the area.

"We've seen an increase in recruitment right across the board.

"It's been a very positive 12 months and we're looking forward to 2015 and seeing these trends continuing."

Mr Jacobsen said one of the most encouraging stats in the latest set of data was the number of 18 to 24-year-olds who are unemployed across the county.

This now stands at 1,200 - 800 less than one year ago.

He added: "We're working very hard with the 18 to 24 age group and have initiatives such as voluntary work experience which has helped.

"We work with young people to find them the experience they need to apply for vacancies.

"Many may have come out of full-time education without ever having worked before, so they find it difficult to put evidence on their CV."