Jobless figure falls for fifth month running (From Oxford Mail)

Jobless figure falls for fifth month running

7:34pm Wednesday 12th September 2012 in Countywide

THE number of people out of work and claiming benefits in Oxfordshire has fallen for the fifth month in a row.

Figures for August show it fell to 6,889 or 1.6 of the working age population – down 93 on the previous month and the lowest since January 2009.

Year-on-year the claimant count is down 1,169 on August 2011 when 1.9 per cent of the population was receiving Jobseekers’ Allowance.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveal that the count fell in all districts of the county except the Vale of the White Horse, where it rose slightly from 1,051 in July this year to 1,064 in August.

Oxford continues to have the highest percentage of claimants at 2.1 per cent, but even there the claimant count dropped from 2,465 to 2,377.

Nationally there are 1,569,926 claimants or 3.9 per cent – down 6,909 on the same month last year.

Chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses , Margaret Coles, was cautious, though, stressing: “I can’t say I have heard of very many more of our members taking on new staff recently, but I do feel an increased mood of confidence.

“There is good news coming out of Oxfordshire compared to the rest of the nation. I think part of the reason is that we have good relations here between the public and private sectors and that is leading to renewed growth overall.”