Jobless figures down - but slight rise for young

The number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance and Universal Credit in Rotherham —which includes Maltby, Dinnington and Mexborough — fell to 4,300 for October, a drop of 20 or 0.4 per cent on the year before.

But for people aged 18 to 24 there were 1,085 people on Jobseeker’s Allowance and Universal Credit, a slight rise of 10 or 0.9 per cent from last year.

Nationally, the unemployment rate fell to 4.8 per cent for the July to September period, with unemployment 1.6 million people unemployed across the country.

Across the country, employment growth slowed in the three months up to September and the number of people claiming unemployment benefits last month rose by 9,800.

But, across the country, unemployment fell by 37,000 between July and September.

Nigel Coleman, of Jobcentre Plus in Rotherham, said fluctuations in unemployment numbers were expected month to month but overall the trend is down both locally and nationally.

Mr Coleman said: “There is so much out there but it’s knowing where to look.

“Nationally we are probably looking at almost full employment, the best we have ever been. We should see this for a few months.”

Mr Coleman said that the recent LEAF (Local Employment and Advisory Forum) job fair at Magna attracted 1,429 visitors, including 670 students from local schools finding out about work and 761 jobseekers. This was 400 more attendees than last year’s event.

Vacancies in the region include 50 roles at Monk’s Bridge Farm pub in Dinnington which would be of interest to people searching for hospitality roles and PMP Recruitment, which finds workers for KP, has positions up for grabs.

ASOS has hundreds of vacancies and can offer a bus service facility if enough budding staff members want it, said Mr Coleman, who added that roles can be found via the Transline recruitment agency or Jobcentre.

Ikea vacancies for the Sheffield outlet can be found on the company’s website and vary regularly so new positions are always being presented.

Warehousing jobs are available in the Doncaster and Barnsley areas.

In relation to figures for Yorkshire and The Humber, employment minister Damian Hinds said: “Yet again we have a strong set of figures, with employment continuing to run at a record high and unemployment falling to an 11 year low.

“Growth is being fuelled by full-time professional jobs while wages are continuing to perform strongly, which underlines the resilience of the UK labour market.

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

“The measures we have taken have put our economy in a position of strength, and we will work to ensure more people can benefit from these opportunities as we build a country that works for everyone.”