Member Article

Employment in Yorkshire & Humber at ‘record high’

Employment levels in Yorkshire & Humber reached ‘record highs’ according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

A total of 164,000 people were unemployed in the region between October and December, a fall of 29,000, a record level.

The region’s unemployment rate was 6.1% and saw a drop of 15.0% during the period.

The employment levels for the North East, North West, Yorkshire and The Humber, East Midlands and Scotland are all at record highs.

Nationwide, unemployment continued to fall, down to a near seven-year low, while a record number of people are in work.

The jobless total dipped by 97,000 in the quarter to 1.86 million - almost half a million down on a year ago.

Employment increased by 103,000 to almost 31 million, the highest since records began in 1971.

The number of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance was cut by 38,600 in December to 823,000, the 27th consecutive monthly fall and the lowest since the summer of 2008.

The UK now has the third lowest unemployment rate in the European Union at 5.7%, behind Austria (4.9%) and Germany (4.8%), according to the ONS.

Pay continued to rise ahead of inflation, with average earnings increasing by 2.1% in the year to December, 0.3% up on the previous month.

CPI inflation was 0.5% in December.

Long-term unemployment is also down, falling by 210,000 for those out of work for over a year, to 638,000.

Self-employment was down by 19,000 over the latest quarter to 4.5 million, around 14% of total employment.

The number of people in part-time jobs wanting full-time work is also down, by 28,000 to 1.3 million.

Employment minister Esther McVey said the region was “motoring forward” in the economy:

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