A fall in unemployment was announced today by the Office for National Statistics, but this disguises some very bad news for unemployed people and the whole UK.

Between December 2013 and February 2014 unemployment fell by 77,000 to 2.24 million compared with the three previous months, driven not by a rise in the number of jobs - up by only 99,000 - but by a rise in self-employment, up 146,000.

This represents an all-time high, continuing a trend which the government wants to say is a sweeping tide of entrepreneurship, but which is really a disguise, hiding unemployment from public view.

Population increases mean the country needs to create far more real jobs than this if we are to share prosperity around.

Between 2000 and 2012, the average level of self-employed earnings fell by a third to £10,400, adjusted for inflation.

That level of income is a long way below minimum wage, which for a 40 hour week provides £13,125 per year.

Self-employment has become a route not to business success but into poverty for far too many.

When you hear Conservative politicians talk about their successes in private-sector job creation, remember that all self-employed people come under this category.

Some have suggested that many of the new registrations are taken up by people doing odd-jobs around their communities, but there is likely to be a larger group.

Those of us who have worked in the public sector are used to hearing stories from ex-colleagues who have been made redundant in the Tory austerity drive and set up a small business in response to a lack of other opportunities.

The draconian jobcentre system is likely to be playing a part too; those entitled to contributions-based Jobseeker's Allowance are likely to be put off by the many stories of sanctions and poor treatment, and if they have savings or their partner is earning they may decide non-paying self-employment is a better bet.

The big drop in self-employed earnings is not surprising; many ex-state workers only have significant networks in their own sector, and institutions that are cutting do not usually hire outside help.

With hundreds of thousands of public-sector redundancies already made and hundreds of thousands still to come, this is a damaging trend that is likely to continue for many more years.

The lack of available work in many areas, together with a mismatch in skills between public and private sectors, means it may well get worse, with more registrations and even lower earnings.