UK unemployment fell to 2.5 million in the three months to December 2012, while the number of people in work jumped to a record high as the jobs market began to pick up.
As figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed, the jobless total dropped by 14,000 between October and December, with the number of people in full or part-time employment increasing by 154,000 to 29.7 million.
With less Britons claiming jobseekers allowance and the unemployment rate at 7.8 per cent, work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith told the BBC that the UK economy is now in a relatively favourable state.
"Economically inactive people who are not available for work, that's now at the lowest level since the early 90s," he said.
"No-one is saying this is easy, but if you were in France or Spain or Greece ... you would look at these figures and say I wish we were in that position."
As the number of people in long-term unemployment also fell, it seems that Britain's businesses are creating more vacancies as the nation's jobs market begins to improve.
But with inflation remaining higher than pay increases and youth unemployment still on the rise, shadow work and pensions secretary Liam Byrne claimed that there is still significant room for improvement.
"People have now taken an average £1,200 pay cut since the election because jobs are so hard to come by and today we see there's still more than five people chasing every vacancy," he commented.
"Youth unemployment has risen yet again, back towards the million mark, the number of women out of work has gone up and long-term unemployment is still far too high."
Yet with the number of people in work having reached a record high, firms appear to be expanding their operations.
And in order to cater for their new growth strategies, many may have to invest in fresh office space or larger commercial properties to facilitate an increase in staff.