Oxfordshire is part of a region with the second lowest unemployment rate in the whole of Europe, according to new figures, writes David Duffy.

The European statistics agency Eurostat found that the Thames corridor counties of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire have an overall unemployment rate of 2.2 per cent, a drop of 0.1 per cent on the year. Oxfordshire's figure is 1.2 per cent.

Oxfordshire Liberal Democrat Euro MP Chris Huhne said: "This makes the Berks, Bucks and Oxon figures the second lowest after the little Aland islands off the coast of Finland.

"The figures show how the businesses of the Thames corridor have been creating enough jobs not just for top computer specialists, but for everyone else too."

The average unemployment rate in the European Union when the survey was carried out was 9.4 per cent, and the region with the worst unemployment rate was Calabria in southern Italy, with 28.7 per cent.