Halton jobless total drops
● UNEMPLOYMENT fell in Halton during October according to the latest job figures.
According to Office For National Statistics data, there were 3,415 residents on out-of-work benefits in October compared to 3,455 the previous month, a drop of 1.16%.
Youth unemployment remained unchanged from September.
A Department For Work And Pensions (DWP) spokesman said the strongest sectors for recruitment in Halton are in warehousing, logistics, retail and call centres.
Jobcentre managers are also reported to have been ‘pleasantly surprised’ by the rate of retail jobs being created, which exceeds what can be attributed to the usual Christmas pre-season increase.
Although monthly unemployment figures are not entirely reliable at local authority level because of the ongoing Universal Credit roll-out’s tendency to inflate the number of workers counted as being on out-of-work benefits, a downward trend can only indicate a downward trend. ●
He added that the North West unemployment rate of 4% is now better than the national 4% average and is the lowest it has been since the 1970s, and that three quarters of jobs being taken up are permanent roles.
Real wage growth also outpaced inflation for the eighth month in a row, but the spokesman could not comment on claims from critics that is due to top earners receiving massive raises and distorting the statistics.
Esther McVey, the then-Work And Pensions Secretary, speaking before her resignation, said: “As we celebrate the anniversary of Disability Confident, we can see seismic shifts in opportunities for disabled people, with 973,000 more in work since 2013.
“That’s empowering hundreds of thousands more disabled people with new career opportunities, and creating a brighter future.”
Alok Sharma, employment minister, said: “It’s worth noting that of the over 3.3m jobs created in the British economy since 2010, three quarters are permanent, full time and in higher level occupations.”