Bradford has benefited marginally from the largest rise in employment levels for 21 years which pushed the latest jobless levels down.

The number of people in the Bradford area claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance (JSA) was slightly lower at 14,543, 1,387 less than a year ago.

In Craven there were 671 claimants, which was 37 down on a year ago.

Youth unemployment in Bradford was two per cent lower compared with June 2009 while in North Yorkshire, including Skipton, the level rose from 390 to 500.

The number of JSA claimants in Yorkshire fell by 15,000 last month to 244,000 and the regional unemployment rate was 9.1 per cent Nationally, unemployment fell by 49,000 in the three months to June, the Office for National Statistics revealed. The UK unemployment level fell to 2.46 million after an 184,000 increase in the number of people employed, the largest quarterly hike since 1989.

The number of part-time workers climbed by 115,000 to a record 7.84 million but the ONS said there was also a rise in those in full-time work, up by 68,000 to 21.2 million.

The figures showed the sixth successive fall in the JSA claimant count, by 3,800 to 1.46 million. The UK unemployment rate was 7.8 per in the April to June quarter.

While welcoming the latest lower figures, the regional TUC has called on ministers to fund schemes to help people find jobs as public sector cutbacks are expected to axe thousands of jobs.

John Lewis, TUC policy officer for Yorkshire, said: “Previous investment in employment schemes helped to keep many thousands off benefits and in paid work. But having made an early decision to scrap the £1.2 billion Future Jobs Fund, the Government has yet to announce similarly well-funded support to get people back into decent paid work.”