Employment numbers in the UK show a surprise drop in the number of people claiming unemployment benefits following the Brexit vote.

While all other indicators point towards a significant slowdown in the British economy since it voted to leave the Union - new figures show that the number of claimants fell by 8,600 during the month.

This was a turnaround from an increase of 900 in June according to the UK's Office for National Statistics.

Ahead of the publication of the results economists polled by Reuters predicted an increase of 9,500 in the number of people signing on as employers face greater uncertainty.

This is the first official measure of changes in the British labour market since the referendum.

The Bank of England previously indicated that it expected employment figures to fall. It cut interest rates to a historic low of 0.25% earlier in this month.

The ONS said that the number of vacancies in the UK fell by 7,000 to 741,000 in the three months to the end of April.

It added that salaries, including bonuses, grew by 2.4% year-on-year in the three months to June. Salaries excluding bonuses rose by 2.3% in the three months to May.