NORTH-East Hampshire MP Ranil Jayawardena has welcomed the news that his constituency has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country.

The recently published Unemployment by Constituencies report shows that unemployment rates in the area has decreased by a further 8.2 per cent since February 2015.

And the figures have been welcomed by Mr Jayawardena.

“I was delighted to read that North East Hampshire currently has the second lowest rate of unemployment in the country and that this number has decreased considerably over the course of the year,” he said.

Out of 650 constituencies across the country, North East Hampshire ranks 649th for the lowest rate of unemployment, with the 8.2 per cent decrease reflecting national figures.

Nationally, the unemployment rate has fallen to 5.1 per cent and the current rate of employment is the highest since records began in 1971.