Island MP Bob Seely has welcomed the 14th consecutive quarterly fall in unemployment and a record 32 million people in work.
Latest figures show the unemployment rate is 4.3% – the lowest level since 1975 – and there is a record amount of vacancies in the economy.
The proportion of young people who are unemployed or not in full-time education – the so-called NEETS – is now under 5% and youth unemployment has fallen by 40% since 2010 on the back of effective government policies like encouraging more apprenticeships.
Bob has said:
“The excellent news on employment in the UK continues and it shows just how resilient the UK economy has been since 2010.
“I am particularly pleased to see how youth unemployment has been so well tackled during the last seven years and apprenticeships and vocational training have done much to boost the opportunities for young people and their contribution to the economy.
“There is more to do but this should be a cause for continued optimism.”
The total number of unemployed claimants on the Island in November 2017 was 1,440. This represents an unemployment rate of 2.4%, just below the national average of 2.5%. The number of claimants on the Island is 25 lower than November 2016, and the number of youth claimants is 55 lower than last November.
Bob added:
“It’s good that unemployment is down a little from a year ago. We need to continue to attract jobs to the Island and to make sure our people have the skills to enable them to succeed. Our Council’s regeneration team is working hard to develop regeneration projects that help wealth creation and jobs”.
