Duncan Hames MP welcomes fall in local unemployment

MELKSHAM MP Duncan Hames welcomed new official figures showing big falls in unemployment, both nationally and locally. 

The figures, published on 18th December by the Office for National Statistics, also showed that 1.1 million new jobs have been created since the last general election, taking the total number of people in work to more than 30 million for the first time ever.

Commenting, Duncan said, “I’m very pleased that more and more people in Wiltshire are finding work, and the big fall in youth unemployment is particularly welcome. The economy is now very much on the mend, and it’s good to see that local people are benefitting from the improvements we’re seeing nationally. Of course there’s still much more work to do. More than one million new jobs have been created since the election, and Liberal Democrats in Government are working to help create a million more, for a stronger economy in a fairer society.”

Nationally:

• Unemployment fell by 99,000 in the last three months – the largest fall for more than 13 years.

• The unemployment rate is now down to 7.4%, the lowest since March 2009.

• 250,000 new jobs have been created in the last three months, meaning that more than 1.1 million jobs have now been created since the general election.

• In the last year, 485,000 new jobs have been created and 95% of them are full-time.

• The total number of people in work in the UK is now over 30 million for the first time ever.

Locally:

• The number of Jobseekers in the Chippenham constituency fell by 21 in November, bringing the total down to its lowest in five years. It has fallen by 303 – more than a fifth – in the past year.

• The number of young Jobseekers fell by 35 in November, to its lowest since December 2008. It has fallen by 80 – more than a fifth – in the past year.