Figures show fall in youth unemployment for Devon

The number of unemployed young people under the age of 25 has again fallen this month from 2,700 in November to 2,675 in December - a decrease of 0.9%, following the national trend.

Significantly this figure is nearly 20% lower than in December 2011.

The total number of people claiming Job Seekers Allowance has increased by only 66 claimants between November and December from 9,207 to 9,273, however, this is not unexpected given the seasonal nature of Devon’s labour market.

The proportion of working age population claiming Job Seeker’s Allowance remains at 2% - well below the national average of 3.7%.

Over the year the number of people claiming JSA in Devon has fallen by 9% (or 921 claimants). This outperforms the UK average where the number of JSA claimants has fallen by 2.9% over the same period.

Leader of Devon County Council, John Hart says; “Despite the slight increase this month, the number of people claiming JSA across Devon continues to move in the right direction and displays the resilience of Devon’s labour market in these difficult economic times. What’s particularly good to see is the decrease in the number of people aged 24 and under claiming JSA since last month and more notably since last year, a trend which is hoped to continue into 2013.”

 For more information, please go to www.devonomics.info/node/252