WORCESTERSHIRE'S booming economy is officially top of the pile - with surprise new data showing how it has outperformed the rest of England.

After a surge in new investment and steady falls in the dole queue, the county has finally hit first place for its productivity growth - with leading county figures describing it as "brilliant".

Your Worcester News can reveal how Business Secretary Sajid Javid has now urged Worcestershire to seize the limelight and get new investors in - pointing to its target of creating 25,000 new jobs within a decade.

It comes after independent experts compared the country on a chart and produced a league table of 39 areas for 2012 to 2013 - with Worcestershire finishing top on 2.7 per cent growth.

The figure is a reflection on more and more people finding work, new infrastructure and faster business growth, with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) devising their evidence on a sophisticated formula.

The ONS also says the data is based on more people producing 'market ready' goods and services, so the better quality jobs each county creates, the higher the overall score.

Worcestershire has outstripped much larger destinations like Oxfordshire, Berkshire, London and Hertfordshire on the sheer scale of its improvement.

It has led to Business Secretary Sajid Javid highlighting the county as a national example, with other county leaders urged to keep up the momentum.

Between 2012 and last year more than £600 million of private investment was sunk into Worcestershire.

Every new piece of investment will have helped the productivity chart - from the growth of small niche firms like Postcode Anywhere in Diglis, Worcester, to the revamp of Worcestershire County Cricket Club with its new Premier Inns hotel.

The new major UK distribution centre for Vax in Droitwich and scale of new apprenticeships around the county during that time are other pointers.

Councillor Adrian Hardman, the county council's leader, said: "It is great news to hear Worcestershire has been able to grow its productivity at a rate faster than anywhere else in England.

"It's achievements like these which really stand out to those businesses who are looking to invest and work in the county."

Mr Javid said: "The Government is committed to making the Midlands an engine for growth and Worcestershire is leading the way with the highest rise in productivity of anywhere in England.

"With high employment rates, a strong skills base and plenty of local support businesses are well placed to grow and create jobs."

Worcester MP Robin Walker told your Worcester News it gives him great optimism.

It comes days after the county's unemployment rates hit their lowest levels since claimant counts began in 1983, leaving just 923 Worcester people out of work.

He said: "I'm delighted to see we've outstripped other areas, it's a good start and what we now need to see is more of this year-on-year, there's a real opportunity for us.

"I acknowledge we're starting from a low base and we need more repeats of this, but this shows the opportunity to raise living standards and help people get higher skills is enormous."

The data was gleaned after comparing the boundaries of each Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) in the UK - bodies set up to attract new investment and jobs.

Gary Woodman, from the Worcestershire LEP, said: "The fact Worcestershire is now leading the way nationally in terms of productivity growth is the latest in a string of fantastic achievements."

It also follows on from Worcestershire being the country's third fastest growing economy overall from 2008 to early 2013, when data revealed how it finished behind only London and Oxfordshire.