YEOVIL NEWS: Employment figures continue to improve

DAVID Laws MP has welcomed figures published this week by the Office for National Statistics which show that Yeovil remains among the top 100 constituencies in the United Kingdom for employment.

The figures show that only 655 people in Yeovil constituency claimed for Job Seekers Allowance in August 2014. This represents just 1.2% of the economically active population aged 16-64.

This number has fallen considerably in the last 12 months, down from 1,139 in August 2013, which represented 2.1% of people aged 16-64 in Yeovil.

This news comes alongside the announcement that the UK’s unemployment rate fell again over the last three months to just 6.2%, its lowest level since 2008.

The number of people who are unemployed in Britain fell by 146,000 in that three month span and the ONS also announced that the number of people claiming Job Seekers Allowance fell below one million for the first time in six years.

Mr Laws said: “The employment figures published this week by the Office for National Statistics are extremely encouraging for us here in Yeovil and for the country as a whole.

“Yeovil has continually had a much lower employment rate than the national average and I am delighted that we are still doing so well.

“However, this good news does not mean that we should be complacent. There is a lot more work to do if we are to make sure that Britain fully recovers from the financial mess we inherited from the last Government.

“First and foremost we must continue to do everything we can to help people find work and find opportunities.”

PHOTO: Yeovil MP David Laws.

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