UNEMPLOYMENT in Winchester has dropped to under half of the national average, new figures reveal.

The district’s jobless rate was 3.2 per cent in the year to June 2014, down 0.6 per cent on March, according to an ONS survey-based estimate.

This brings it to less than half the UK average of 6.8 per cent.

The number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance in Winchester has almost halved since last year from 516 to 262, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The number of claimants aged 18-24 dropped from 100 to 60.

The district has long had some of the best employment figures in the country. This year’s claimant rate of 0.6 per cent is just over a quarter of the national average.

Helen Edmunds, of Jobcentre Plus in the Solent, said Winchester was “really lucky” to have strong transport links to London and other cities which widened possibilities for jobseekers.

More than two thirds of Winchester’s 262 claimants have been unemployed for six months or more, she said, adding that the biggest challenge to slashing rates was finding work for the long-term jobless.