Jobless total falls slightly (From Oxford Mail)

Jobless total falls slightly

10:50am Wednesday 14th December 2011 in News By Chris Koenig

The number of people out of work and claiming jobseeker’s allowance in Oxfordshire fell by 113 in November to 7,612 or 1.8 per cent of the working age population, the lowest since June.

The figure is a 0.1 per cent increase on the same month last year.

Only South Oxfordshire saw a year on year drop in claimant count to 1,165, a fall of 0.1 per cent.

Oxford still has the highest number of claimants at 2,738 or 3.3 per cent.

Nationally, jobseeker's allowance claimants increased by 3,000 last month to 1.6 million, the ninth consecutive monthly rise and the highest total since the start of 2010.

Overall UK unemployment reached a 17-year high after another 128,000 joined the jobless ranks, raising the total to 2.64 million.