The job market has surprised everyone once again. The number of people claiming unemployment benefit saw its biggest fall since 1997 last month, giving Gordon Brown an unexpected pre-election boost.

There were 32,300 fewer people signing on in February than in the previous month, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed today.

Economists had expected unemployment to go up by 8,000. What's more, January's increase of 23,500, which shocked everyone because it came after two months of falling unemployment, has been revised lower to a rise of just 5,300.

This means the picture in the job market is suddenly much brighter. There are now 1.59 million claimants, the lowest level since last July. The news boosted hopes that the job market is over the worst and that the economy's recovery from recession is finally gathering steam.

However, the good news was tempered by a drop in employment to the lowest level in four years and a rise in the long-term unemployed to the highest number since 1997.

Anyone who ever sat at their desk with their head in their hands, wondering how on earth they ended up working with such a bunch of Muppets, will be unsurprised to learn that 1.7 million workers do not have the skills they need to do their jobs. The government research claims the number of people in this rather awkward position has shot up by 400,000 in the last four years.

The research says the problem is 'pervasive' across all sectors and all jobs, particularly leadership, management and technical skills. Some of the most common problems include 'customer handling, team working and oral communication skills'.

But surely, this is something we have long been aware of. In our daily lives most of us spend half our time covering for colleagues, picking up the ball after someone has dropped it, and generally getting people out of trouble after their incompetence has backed them into a corner.

The report claims the solution is training, which would be all very well if the country wasn't broke. So if you are working with people who lack the basic skills, what can you do?

David Beckham's chances of making it to his fourth World Cup finals in South Africa this summer have been squashed after he tore his Achilles tendon during AC Milan's victory over Chievo this weekend.

He flew to Finland for an operation by a specialist which has been successful, but the surgeon said there was no chance he would recover in time for the World Cup. While the injury is obviously a personal tragedy for the midfielder, it is by no means a disaster for the team. Some say it could be a blessing in disguise for England and open the door for younger talent.

It speaks volumes about how any team of colleagues doesn't have to suffer when they lose a star.

A meat company has been turning down British job applicants because they can't speak Polish.

Forza AW advertised for staff at its factory in East Anglia, but insisted workers must speak fluent Polish, because the health and safety briefing was done in the language – preventing British people from applying.

According to the Mail on Sunday, Forza, which supplies Asda, may have been acting illegally.

Some Royal Mail staff have been systematically tricking the public and watchdogs regarding the time it takes to deliver items.

The Royal Mail claims that nine out of ten items are delivered the next day, but this claim is based on cheating that has been going on for years, according to Postcomm, the industry regulator.

An investigation found that many staff from managers down to postmen intercepted tens of thousands of items of mail which had been posted by an independent monitoring company to test delivery times.

The staff found a way to identify these letters and delivered them quicker than other items.

I bet you didn't know that if you don't take retirement at the set age and defer your pension for a few years, you'll get free money to put towards it. Which'll mean you have more cash to spend on the things you enjoy when you do retire.

As life expectancy increases and more older people continue to remain active, healthy and work part-time past the set retirement age, deferring your pension can make a lot of sense.

So what's involved?

As Mother's Day approaches - it's this Sunday, in case you've forgotten - the Office for National Statistics has helped paint a portrait of the 'typical' modern mum in Britain.

While no mother can be 'average', of course, statistics can shed some light on Britain's mums: how old they might be, whether they are married or single, and how they might enjoy the little spare time they have each week.

Women are now just under 30, on average, when they get married, and aged 27 1/2 when they first give birth. But even though they wait longer before having kids, the number of births has hit the highest level in nearly four decades, thanks to older women and immigrants having more babies.

And there has been a big rise in the number of single mums since 1971 - they now make up a fifth of all mothers.

When was the last time you went on holiday? Can you even remember what it feels like to be warm? Or relaxed?

It seems we are far too busy to take a proper break.

Research commissioned on behalf of British Tourism Week has shown that UK workers take far less holiday than they are entitled to - and this is costing the British tourism industry dear.

That aside, it's clearly not good for our well-being.

I phoned my friend Toby the other day. "I can't talk now, I'm on an assignment," he growled into the phone. "It could blow my cover."

For Toby, working as a mystery shopper is a very serious business, and not just a way to make money in between acting jobs.

Luckily, he also finds it quite good fun and a chance to play James Bond.

He has occasionally had to pretend to be partially sighted to test whether supermarkets have their pricing in an accessible form and what kind of service he gets from the staff, which he found really interesting.

Mystery shopping is a great way to earn a living for people with unpredictable patterns of employment.

The geniuses who reside under the golden arches have announced that youngsters who get a McJob at McDonald's can gain their very own GCSE-equivalent McQualifications.

There is, apparently, a range of different qualifications - presumably everything from applying a bucket-load of concealer to your hideous acne to trying to remember a soft drink order in the time it takes you to walk from the till to the machine.

It sounds like the set up to a joke, but it genuinely claims you can get everything from the equivalent of a B-grade pass in one GCSE for completing two week's work experience (a BTEC Level 2 Certificate in Work Skills) to the equivalent of five grade A*-C GCSE's for completing one of 10,000 McApprenticeships.

There remains only one question...... why?