Employment levels "incredibly healthy" across Rotherham

The number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance and Universal Credit in Rotherham – which includes Maltby, Dinnington and Mexborough – fell to 4,355 for September, a drop of 150 or three per cent on the year before.

For people aged 18-24 there were 1,050 people on Jobseeker’s Allowance and Universal Credit, a fall of 95 or eight per cent from last year.

Nationally, the employment rate was at 74.5 per cent for the June-August period, with unemployment nationally at 1.66 million.

Across the country, unemployment rose by 10,000 in the June-August period.

Nigel Coleman, of Jobcentre Plus in Rotherham, said South Yorkshire as a whole has seen more people find work and there are hundreds of vacancies if people are willing to travel to employment across the county.

Mr Coleman said: “We are still going in the right direction but it has slowed a little bit.

“But it is still incredibly healthy.

“We are at the highest employment level the country has ever seen since records began which were comparable.

“When you look at South Yorkshire as a whole you see that constant buzz in employment but people still need to be prepared to work across borders.”

Mr Coleman said that Ikea has a jobs fair at Sheffield Town Hall on Friday and Greencore at Kiveton Park has 80 jobs for pre-production operatives.

KP Snacks at Hellaby is looking for staff as is QFM at Eastwood, and GI Group and Transline are recruiting for positions in Manvers.

In Doncaster there are vacancies, particularly in warehousing and distribution centres. Employers include Amazon, ASOS and Blue Arrow.

In Sheffield, there are NHS clerical posts to be filled and M&S and the Prince’s Trust are taking people on.

Employment minister Damian Hinds said: “Once again it’s great news for Britain as the employment rate remains at a record high with more than 31.8 million men and women in work.

“There is good news in Yorkshire and the Humber, where there is a record of over 2.5 million people in work and a record number of 1.21 million women in work as well.

“But there is more to do, particularly when it comes to supporting young people into employment. We want to build a solid base for the future, that’s why I have announced the roll out of our Jobcentre Plus Support for Schools scheme in England which will give tens of thousands of young people help in taking their first steps into the world of work.”

Josh Hardie, CBI deputy-director general, said: “We’ve seen a marginal increase in unemployment but with employment still rising and the unemployment rate at an 11-year low, the overall picture is resilient.

“Pay growth is still lacklustre though, emphasising the need for new partnerships between business and the Government that brings a laser-like focus to improving productivity. This is the only route to sustainable, long-term improvements in pay growth.”