text: Britain was hailed as a ‘job-creating machine’ last night as the number of people in work soared to its highest level in history. The Conservatives’ economic strategy also won a stunning international endorsement, with the International Monetary Fund lavishing praise on Chancellor George Osborne. Employment rose above 31million in the three months to February, official figures showed – 557,000 higher than a year before. The Conservatives’ economic strategy  won a stunning international endorsement, with the International Monetary Fund lavishing praise on Chancellor George Osborne (pictured) David Cameron said the Conservatives had overseen a ‘jobs miracle’ and Britain had created more jobs in the last five years than the rest of the EU put together. ‘There are now two million more people in work than in 2010,’ the Prime Minister said. The encouraging numbers came as Rolls-Royce announced its biggest-ever order, worth more than £6billion, to power passenger jets for the Middle Eastern airline Emirates. IMF chief Christine Lagarde and German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble praised Mr Osborne’s ‘wonderful job’ of handling the economy. In a blow to Labour, which has opposed most of the Government’s austerity measures, Mrs Lagarde said the Government had provided the ‘right balance’ of spending cuts and tax rises. The plan had reduced the deficit from a record £153billion under Labour in 2009-10 to £90billion last year. She said she had ‘no doubt that can continue to be the case in the future’ under Mr Osborne’s plans to return Britain to the black in 2018-19, a pledge Labour has failed to match. David Cameron said the Conservatives had overseen a ‘jobs miracle’ and Britain had created more jobs in the last five years than the rest of the EU put together . ‘The fiscal deficit has been significantly reduced over the last few years,’ said Mrs Lagarde. ‘Added to that it is clearly also delivering results. It is obvious that what is happening in the UK has actually worked.’ Mr Schaeuble said he was ‘full of respect’ for what the Chancellor has achieved and delivered what amounted to a highly unusual endorsement of the Tories. ‘The UK and the UK economy has done a wonderful job in the last couple of years,’ he said. ‘The UK and George Osborne has a very good plan for the future. I am very much in favour of what has been achieved and what has been forecast.’ The Chancellor, speaking at the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington, said the UK ‘is one of the brightest spots in the world economy at the moment’. ‘I am here representing the UK with an economy that is firmly on course – the deficit halved as a share of GDP, strong growth, record high employment, record low inflation,’ he said. Greece poses the biggest threat to the global economy and the deepening crisis could hit Britain, George Osborne warned yesterday. Fears are mounting that the recession-battered country will default on its debts and be forced to leave the eurozone, creating an economic and political earthquake. The Chancellor (pictured with IMF managing director Christine Lagarde) said the crisis in Greece had made the mood at International Monetary Fund talks in Washington this week ‘notably more gloomy’ The Chancellor said the crisis in Greece had made the mood at International Monetary Fund talks in Washington this week ‘notably more gloomy’. Mr Osborne added: ‘It is clear that a misstep or miscalculation on either side [in Greece] could easily return European economies to the type of perilous situation we saw three to four years ago. ‘It would be a mistake to think that the UK could be immune to a return to this instability in European financial systems and the European economy.’ ‘The British economy is a job-creating machine and we have set out, as a Conservative Party, plans to go on creating jobs, two million further jobs, in the next parliament.’ Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander hailed Britain as the ‘job-creation powerhouse of the western economies’. The Rolls-Royce deal means the Derby-based firm will make the engines for 50 of Emirates’ Airbus A380 planes from its UK factories, where it employs 24,500 people. Emirates’ use of the A380 is said to have created 7,000 UK jobs. Rolls-Royce has worked with Emirates since 1996 but this is the first time it has made engines for the Gulf carrier’s super-jumbo fleet. Labour was forced to welcome the latest employment figures, but Ed Miliband insisted that ‘too often jobs in our country are low-paid, low-skilled and insecure’. ‘It is not just about zero-hours contracts. Young people have done badly, with growing debt, an insecure job and owning a home a distant dream,’ he said. Ed Miliband (pictured) has insisted that ‘too often jobs in our country are low-paid, low-skilled and insecure’ But John Philpott, director of the Jobs Economist website, said two-thirds of the new jobs were full-time and ‘almost all’ were permanent. In more good news, yesterday’s figures showed the unemployment rate has also fallen to pre-crisis levels of 5.6 per cent. It was last this low in June 2008. Wages excluding bonuses are also rising at 1.8 per cent – the highest level since 2012, the Office for National Statistics revealed. This wage increase will feel even higher for workers because the inflation rate is zero.
target: Employment in UK rose above 31million in last three months to February .
  Conservative's economic strategy praised by International Monetary Fund .
  Prime Minister David Cameron says Tories have overseen a 'jobs miracle'