Unions warned that Britain's latest declared "jobs boost" has a weak bottom line yesterday after figures revealed employment has actually fallen.

Rising numbers of self-employed people saw overall unemployment fall by 63,000 in the last quarter of 2013, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

But that jobs boost was matched by a 60,000 decline in the number of people in direct employment.

Unite leader Len McCluskey was clear more jobs "can't disguise the thrust of government policy which is towards a low waged economy where insecure employment is rampant."

And TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady explained the shift would hit female workers hardest.

"Recent figures showed a 42 per cent gender pay gap among self-employed workers, with most women earning less than £10,000," she said.

"So far economic growth has failed to improve job security or generate decent pay rises.

"This must change if the benefits of recovery are to be felt by hard-working people."

Despite that, Tory PM David Cameron insisted at Prime Minister's questions that his government was giving families "dignity and security."

He mocked Labour for failing to challenge the jobs figures in the Commons and boasted that unemployment in north-west England is lower than in London.

The latest figures reveal however that the region witnessed the largest increase in unemployment at 0.6 per cent between November 2013 and January 2014.

The north-east of England and Yorkshire and Humber still top the unemployment figures with 9.5 per cent and 8.7 per cent of residents out of work respectively.

Lib Dem MP David Ward said that just 14 jobs were created in his Bradford East constituency over those three months.

"Fourteen more jobs are better than 14 less but it's very disappointing," he told Mr Cameron.

Labour shadow work and pensions secretary Rachel Reeves attacked the government for leaving 912,000 young people unemployed and overseeing a rise in the number of people locked out of work for over two years.