REDDITCH MP Karen Lumley has welcomed unemployment figures for September 2015 which show that unemployed claimants now represent 1.8 per cent of the economically active population aged 16 to 64 in the constituency.
The total number of unemployed claimants in Redditch constituency in September 2015 was 831. The equivalent UK-wide claimant rate is 2.5 per cent.
In Redditch, the current figure includes 696 people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance and 135 people who were claiming Universal Credit but were not in employment. There were 215 claimants aged 18-24 in Redditch in September 2015, 35 lower than in September 2014.
The total number of claimants (both Jobseeker’s Allowance and Universal Credit) is 239 lower than in September 2014 and nine lower than in August 2015.
Nationally, the UK unemployment rate fell to a seven-year low in the three months to August.
“While there is one person unemployed in Redditch I will not rest. However the figures continue to be encouraging and when you consider that when I first became MP in 2010 there were 2,214 unemployed, these are very heartening figures indeed,” said Mrs Lumley.
“Getting people into work has always been a top priority of mine and I am already planning another Jobs Fair for the spring where hopefully I can help more people get that all-important job.”
