JSA claims fall in county (From Worcester News)

JSA claims fall in county

11:56am Wednesday 17th October 2012 in News By Elizabeth Sweetman, @lizsweetmanWN #worcsnews

THE number of people claiming jobseekers allowance in Worcestershire has fallen, following the news that the number of people in work has reached a national record high.

The number of people claiming JSA in Worcestershire fell from 10,607 in August to 10,438 in September.

In Worcester, 2,295 people claimed JSA last month compared to 2,358 in August.

Likewise, the number fell in the Malvern Hills district from 994 in August to 960 in September and in Wychavon, the number fell from 1,747 to 1,719 between August and September.

Nationally, the number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance fell by 4,000 in September to 1.57 million, the third consecutive monthly fall and the lowest total since July 2011.

Employment grew in the quarter to August by 212,000 to 29.59 million, the highest since records began in 1971.

Unemployment fell by 50,000 in the same period to 2.53 million, the lowest since the spring, giving a jobless rate of 7.9 per cent.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) also reported that part-time employment increased by 125,000 between March and May to a record high of 8.13 million.

The number of people in part-time jobs because they could not find full-time work was close to a record high at 1.4 million.

Youth unemployment fell by 62,000 to 957,000, the lowest figure for over a year. Self-employment has also increased, up by 35,000 to 4.2 million, while the number of unpaid workers in a family business rose by 2,000 to 112,000.

The data also showed a rise of 13,000 in the number of people on Government-supported training and employment programmes to 158,000.

Economic inactivity, including those looking after a sick relative or who have given up looking for work, fell by 138,000 in the latest quarter to just over nine million.