Numbers of jobless fall in Bradford again (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Numbers of jobless fall in Bradford again

7:21pm Wednesday 16th May 2012 in Bradford By Anika Bourley

Bradford’s dole queues have shortened for the second month – but at a slower rate than other areas across West Yorkshire.

According to the Office of National Statistics’ monthly figures there are 19,430 people claiming out of work benefits which is down 135 on the last count.

It means 5.9 per cent of all people of working age across the district are claiming Job Seekers’ Allowance compared to 4.8 per cent in Yorkshire and Humber and four per cent nationally.

One in five of the total in Bradford have been on the dole for more than a year, the ONS figures show.

Despite the reduction of claimants across Bradford, the district recorded the lowest fall across West Yorkshire. There were 166 fewer claimants in Calderdale, 167 in Kirklees, 433 in Leeds and 254 in Wakefield.

Employment Minister Chris Grayling said: “These figures are a welcome step in the right direction. For a number of months now employment has been growing and this is starting to feed through into improving unemployment figures. However, we still face significant international uncertainty so we need to hold firm on our current economic strategy and continue to do everything we can to ensure unemployment continues to fall.”

UK unemployment fell by 45,000 to 2.63 million between January and March, the lowest total since last summer.

Youth unemployment was down by 17,000 to 1.02m. But the number of people unemployed for more than a year increased by 27,000 to 887,000, the worst total since 1996.

Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Liam Byrne said: “Any increase in employment is welcome, but the figures show that hard-working Britain is doing anything and everything to battle through this double-dip recession made in Downing Street.

“Part-time work and self-employment has now hit record highs as British families pull out all the stops to make ends meet.

“It is really worrying to see the soaring long-term costs as the number of long-term unemployed surges towards the one million mark – the highest since the Tories were in Government last time.”

The ONS figures show the claimant count in Bradford has risen by more than a fifth from 16,080 12 months ago to 19,430 levels. There are 2,050 jobs being advertised on JobCentre Plus boards across Bradford.