Official figures have shown a fall in unemployment for the three months to April, with 1.05 million people in work, 114,000 more than in the three months to January 2015 and 424,000 more than a year earlier.

The unemployment rate for February to April 2015 was 5.5%, down from 6.6% a year earlier, whilst 73.4% of people aged from 16 to 64 were in work, up from 72.7% for a year earlier.

However, the TUC union said that underemployment – people who have fewer hours of work than they want – remains nearly a million higher than before the financial crisis.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “The headline employment rate may have returned to its pre-recession level, but underemployment has barely recovered, so we are still a long way from a full jobs recovery.

“The government must address labour market failures that have left us with too many poor quality jobs, and not enough decent jobs with full-time hours. Full employment means not only making sure everyone can get a job, it also means making sure they have a full week’s work if they need it.

“The current economic plan is not delivering enough high quality full-time jobs for everyone who wants one. The Chancellor’s plans for extreme cuts in the Budget next month will not deliver the productivity gains we need for better jobs with more hours. A much better economic plan would set out a clear pathway to close the UK’s investment gap, so that we stop trailing other countries on the innovation needed to create more high quality full-time work.”