MORE people in the South West live in working households than in any other part of the UK, figures show.

The figures from the Office for National Statistics reveal from January to March, the latest time for which data is available, showed that only 7.9 per cent of people were living in households where no-one works, down from 12.9 per cent in 1996.

However, during the same period, 60.6 per cent of people were living in householders where everyone between the age of 16 and 60 were employed (The highest rate in the country)

However, people living in households where some of the adults worked accounted for the rest of population at 31.5 per cent.

The figures once again show how buoyant the labour market is in the South West, after it was announced earlier this month the region had the highest employment rate in the country, with 79.3 per cent of people in work.

Matt Griffith, director of policy at not-for-profit business champion Business West, said: “This is a really impressive jobs performance for the South West – where we are now England’s leading region for working households. In the past ten years, no other region has ever achieved this level of employment – even beating the South East and London – so it is something for us to be proud of.

“Given the head winds of Brexit and wider political uncertainty, this is testimony to the hard work of our employers, entrepreneurs and businesses.

“The challenge for the region is to match this impressive jobs performance with greater levels of productivity and wage growth – so that people feel a sustained benefit in their pocket. Recently falling inflation and rising wages should help here over the coming year, but the South West needs to do more on tackling high housing costs and under investment over the longer term.”

Senior ONS statistician Matt Hughes, added: “Although the figure for people living in households where no-one works is good – at 7.9 per cent – in the first months of 2017 the news was even better – when the figure hit 7.7 per cent. This rose slightly slightly over the rest of the year before dropping back down.

"The rate has hit a new record, with unemployment remaining at its lowest rate since 1975.

“The growth in employment is still being driven by UK nationals, with a slight drop over the past year in the number of foreign workers. It’s important to remember, though, that this isn’t a measure of migration.

“Growth in total pay remains in line with inflation, meaning real earnings are flat on the year.”

Erin Yurday, head of research at Consumer Research group, Nimblefins, said: "The South West remains a great place to look for work. According to the latest Jobs Density data, the South West has 5 per cent more jobs per working-age resident than the UK average. The only UK region offering more jobs per resident is Greater London.

"In particular, job seekers in Exeter, West Dorset, North Devon, Cotswold, Poole and Cheltenham will find the best odds of employment in the South West, with more than one job for each working-age resident."

Meanwhile, across the UK, around 54.9 per cent of people live in households where everyone works, with 35.1 living in mixed and 10 per cent in work-less households.

However, the poorest region in the country where fewest people worked was the North East where just 13.4 per cent of people live in households where no-one works – the highest level in the country.

The ONS said that this was a vast improvement on its scores in 1999, when the figure reached 19 per cent.