The total of people classed as unemployed in the UK has recently taken a drastic fall from 65,000 to just 2.58 million in the three months to May according to the Office for National Statistics.
This would make employment at its highest in four years, and unemployment at its first decrease since spring 2011.
The cause of this is suggested to be the 2012 Olympic Games, as the biggest increase in work is reported to be in London.
This change in statistics has been hailed by ministers as "a step in the right direction", but the short-term hiring for the Olympics could simply be masking the economy's underlying weaknesses.
According to figures from The Office of National Statistics, long-term unemployment has actually risen, with the number of people out of work for over a year jumping by 26,000 to 883,000, the worst total since 1996.
The figures also showed an 89,000 rise in the number of people working part-time because they could not find full-time jobs, to a total of 1.4 million, the highest figure since records began in 1992.
Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, said: "The Olympic effect may give the impression of recovery, but it is a mirage. The number of the long-term unemployed is still rising, and huge numbers of women and young people are still struggling to find work."
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