Jobless figure falls again (From Oxford Mail)

Jobless figure falls again

11:37am Wednesday 20th January 2010

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The number of people out of work and claiming benefit in Oxfordshire has fallen to its lowest level for almost a year.

Latest Government figures for Oxfordshire show 8,344 people were on the dole in the county, a drop of 397 on the previous month and the lowest figure since January 2009.

It is the fourth month in a row that the figures have fallen, although there are still 2,542 more people signing on than December last year.

Nationally, the claimant count fell for the second month in a row in December, down by 15,200 to 1.61 million, the biggest monthly fall since April 2007.

And the actual total number of unemployed including those not claiming jobseeker’s allowance also fell for the first time in almost two years.

The number of people out of work in the three months to November was cut by 7,000 to 2.46 million, although the rate remained unchanged at 7.8 per cent.

But the number of unemployed people is more than half a million higher than a year ago, data from the Office for National Statistics showed.

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