OXFORDSHIRE bucked the national trend of rising unemployment, with the county's jobless level falling by five per cent.

The number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance fell by 205 last month from 4,426 to 4,221, according to the Office for National Statistics.

But nationally unemployment reached a seven-year high when the jobless total jumped to 1.7 million and the number of people working in manufacturing slumped to a 165-year low.

The national claimant count increased by 1,200 to 961,300 - the highest total for five years.

It has now risen for 17 of the last 20 months and by more than 70,000 this year.