Member Article

Employment levels in Yorkshire & Humber over 2.5 million according to ONS

Employment has reached 2,537,000 in the Yorkshire and Humber region, a 41,000 increase on last year, according to results released today by the Office for National Statistics.

This is a 4000 increase on the last quarter, which the Government claimed today at the reading of the Budget was a sign that its austerity measures were working.

The national employment rate has also hit a five-year high and a record 30.19 million people are now in jobs.

Private sector employment has increased by 1.73 million since 2010, showing the Government’s long-term economic plan to back enterprise and businesses so they can create jobs is proving successful.

The number of people in work has increased by 1.35 million since 2010 - over a million of these jobs are full-time – and the employment rate is now 72.3%, the highest it has been since 2008.

Employment Minister Esther McVey said: “The rise in employment is being fuelled by businesses and entrepreneurs across the country who are feeling increasingly confident with the improving economy.

“They should be congratulated for creating over 1.7 million private sector jobs since 2010 – that’s over 1,000 more people in private sector jobs every day.”

The number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) fell by over 363,000 on the year, which is the largest annual fall since 1998. The number of young people claiming JSA has been falling for the last 21 months.

The number of people who are unemployed fell by 63,000 in the last three months, with the number of people who have been unemployed for over a year falling by 38,000.

The number of unemployed young people also fell by 29,000 and has been falling now for the last six months.

The latest figures also show the number of job vacancies increased in the last three months by 23,000 to 588,000.

Private sector pay (excluding bonuses) rose by 1.6%, which is the largest rise since October 2012.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .