The South West jobless rate has increased, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show.
The unemployment rate for the region was 4.1 per cent in the three months to February 2007, up 0.5 per cent on a year earlier, the ONS said.
Its figures show the South West employment rate - the proportion of adults in work - fell 0.4 per cent to 74.9 per cent in the December-February period.
A total of 2.47 million people were in employment during the period, an increase of 3,000 from a year ago.
The ONS estimates suggest an increase in the number of employees and a decrease in the number of self employed over the past year.
The figures also indicate a surge in the number of full-time workers and a fall in the number of part-time workers over the past 12 months.
According to the ONS, the claimant count rate in the South West in March was 1.8 per cent, the same as February, and unchanged since March 2006.
The number of claimants in March 2007 was 46,700, down 600 on the previous month, and up 400 since March 2006.
Meanwhile, the UK unemployment rate for the December-February period was steady at 5.5 per cent.
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