Issued by City of York Council
City of York Council has today welcomed news that the number of people claiming Jobs Seekers Allowance (JSA) in York has fallen and that the figures remain stronger than the national and regional average.
The Office for National Statistics have released figures today stating that there are 3053 claimants in York, a decrease of 59 from last month and of 562 from March 2012. The claimant count represents 2.3% of the working population and contrasts to the regional average which stands at 4.9%. The figures are also much lower than the national average which stands at 3.8%.
The figures display a year on year improvement in the number of claimants in the city with the figures representing the lowest March claimant count since 2008.
Cllr James Alexander, Labour leader for City of York Council said: “I am delighted that the number of claimants in York has fallen further, it is great news for the city and we hope that this trend can continue. It is particularly good to see that the claimant count amongst 18-24 year olds has decreased over the past year, reducing by 250 since March 2012.
“There is a strong and growing confidence in York’s economy, this is in no small part due to its skilled workforce. It’s encouraging to see that qualification levels have also increased in York, with residents more highly skilled than ever and the proportion of the workforce with no qualifications decreasing year on year.
“City of York Council will continue to work with partners such as the Jobs Centre Plus and Future Prospects – to provide residents access to support agencies, which will help them improve skills and offer them the best possible chance to enter employment.”
Data from the 2012 Annual Population Survey has also shown York’s residents to be more highly skilled than ever, 41.3% of the working age population are now qualified to NVQ level four or higher this is higher than the national average (34.4%) and the regional average (29.7%).
The proportion of the workforce with no qualifications has also decreased with 6.4% of the working population having no qualifications; this is far below the national average (11.5%) and the regional average (9.7%).
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