THERE has been another fall in the number of people claiming unemployment benefits in York, bucking a national trend.
Figures from the Department for Work and Pensions for May show between two and 3.1 per cent of residents in parts of Yorkshire are claiming Job Seeker’s Allowance. (JSA) In York, the current figure for claimants stands at 3,323 down from 3,442 in April. The number represents 2.5 per cent of the city’s population. In Selby there are 1,486 claimants (down from 1,528), while in North Yorkshire as a whole, there are 8,737 claimants – down from 8,928 in April.
Across Ryedale there were 649 claimants (down from 669), representing two per cent of the population of the area, but East Yorkshire had 6,467 (up from 6,381).
The number of claimants throughout the UK rose by 19,600 last month to 1.49 million, the worst figure for more than a year.
Nationally, unemployment has fallen by 88,000, while the number of people in work has increased by a similar number. The quarterly fall was the biggest in more than a decade, taking the jobless total to 2.43 million.
Employment Minister Chris Grayling said: “This is another encouraging set of figures and a very welcome drop in unemployment. However, we still face a challenge to help more of the long-term unemployed into work.”
Here’s hoping
COULD the Prime Minister’s bold claim that industry will create enough jobs to counter losses in the public sector be coming to fruition? A glance at the latest employment figures might suggest so.
They show the biggest fall in 11 years with four times the number of new positions being created by the private sector than lost in the public sector. But the figures mask a worrying trend.
More people than ever have to work part time and, nationally, the number claiming job seekers’ allowance rose last month. In York, though, it fell.
Determining the real picture is not easy. We are yet to see the full scale of public sector job cuts and many in York are reliant on it for work, so the cuts remain a real worry.
But if the jobs created by industry continues at this rate, there may yet be a softer landing for some.
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