Jobless figures fall in Rotherham

The number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance and Universal Credit in Rotherham – which includes Maltby, Dinnington and Mexborough – fell to 4,375 for August, a drop of 310 or seven per cent on the year before.

For people aged 18 to 24 there were 1,025 people on Jobseeker’s Allowance and Universal Credit, a fall of 140 or 12 per cent from last year.

Nationally, the unemployment rate remained at 4.9 per cent for the May to July period, with unemployment falling by 39,000 to 1.63 million over that time.

Nigel Coleman, of Jobcentre Plus in Rotherham, said: “It’s still going in the right direction.

“Month on month the figures do fluctuate but when you do it year on year they are still going down.

“We are considerably below last year’s level.

“Over the last five to six years the unemployment rate has gone down and down.”

In the Rotherham area, Mr Coleman said that Royal Mail was offering vacancies throughout September and there are Christmas recruitment opportunities at the town’s Parkgate shopping complex.

Greencore of Kiveton is working with Jobcentre on the Feeding Britain’s Future project which will provide jobs and there will be an Ikea jobs fair at Sheffield Town Hall on October 21 where representatives from the retailer will talk about different roles within the company.

The Meadowhall Jobs Fair will be held on Wednesday (September 21) in a tent in the car park behind the shopping site’s management centre.

It is expected to be double the size of last year’s Jobs Fair and people need to register their interest before attending at https://www.meadowhall.co.uk/news-events.

Mr Coleman said that there are many other jobs in the Rotherham area.

He said: “There are lots of opportunities. There are dozens and dozens and dozens of opportunities out there.”

Minister for employment, Damian Hinds, said: “When it comes to our jobs market, we’ve made great progress since 2010 with employment up in every region.

“There’s 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 women in work as well.

“It’s important that we work to keep up this momentum so more people can make the most of opportunities available out there in the economy.”

The director of people and skills at the Confederation of British Industry, Neil Carberry, said: “With much of the data still pre-Referendum, it’s too early to make any assumptions about the effect of June’s vote to leave the European Union on the UK’s labour market.

“But the strength of employment growth in the first half of this year is encouraging, and highlights the resilience of the UK’s flexible labour market.

“Maintaining this flexibility as we navigate the challenges and opportunities the country faces following the EU Referendum will be vital for our future prosperity, pay and job creation.”