FEARS that the jobs market in the UK could be cooling off don’t appear to affect Swindon according to the latest figures.

Job Centre manager Julie Marshall said: “Swindon as a whole is actually performing quite well,” she said.

The centre is still being notified of a wide range of jobs and apprenticeships in in sectors such as retail and the food sectors and there was a shortage of skilled workers in the social care sector.

A range of employers had visited the centre as part of the recruiting efforts during the month, including firms looking for merchandisers, drivers, security staff, customer assistants and production workers.

She said many employers were now encouraging online applications for jobs and the centre could help people through the process.

In the South West the employment rate was at a record 74.2 per cent, the highest since records began in 1971. At 69.2 per cent the rate for women was also at its highest.

Nationally, unemployment dipped by 2,000 in the first quarter to 1.69 million, a fall of 139,000 over the past year.

The number of claimants was down by 2,400 last month to 737,800, although revised data showed the figure rose by 14,700 between February and March, the highest total since autumn 2011.

Job vacancies were down by 18,000 to 745,000, the first fall for almost a year.

David Freeman, a senior statistician at the Office for National Statistics, said: "The employment rate has hit another record high, but this time the increase is quite modest.

"With unemployment very little changed, that is further evidence the jobs market could be cooling off."

Average earnings increased by 2 per cent in the year to March, up by 0.1per cent on the previous month.

A 182,000 increase was recorded in the number of self-employed to just under 4.7 million, a new record, while people on government-supported employment programmes fell by 7,000 to 98,000.

The number of non-UK nationals working here increased by 229,000 over the year to 3.34 million.

The total has risen from 928,000 in 1997, while the proportion of non-UK nationals working in the UK has gone up from 3.5per cent to 10.6per cent.

Non-UK nationals from the EU increased by 224,000 to 2.15 million while those from outside the EU were little changed at 1.19 million.

Stephen Crabb, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions,  said: "These are another record-breaking set of figures, with more people in work than ever before and the unemployment rate is the lowest in a decade at 5.1 per cent.

"More people in work means that more families across the UK are benefitting from the security of a regular wage and the fulfilment that employment brings.”