Unemployment continues to fall in Devon

Numbers of claimants of Job Seeker’s Allowance (JSA) in Devon continued to fall in May to just 3,720, representing just 0.8% of the county’s working age population, down from 0.9% in the previous month. This is the lowest number of claimants in the County since records began in 1983.

The percentage drop in claimants fell by 6.4% between April and May 2015. This is in comparison to the UK average drop of 4.3% over the same period.

When compared with figures from a year ago, JSA claimants are 30% lower than in May 2014 and nearly 60% lower than in May 2011.

All of Devon’s eight districts, with the exception of West Devon, experienced further decreases in claimants between April and May 2015 - North Devon falling the most by 17.4%.

In West Devon claims increased by 6% over the same period, however, given that the overall numbers of claimants in Devon’s districts are comparatively low, West Devon’s 6% rise equates to an increase of 14 claimants (West Devon’s total number of claimants standing at 248 in May). 

Torridge once again had the highest proportion of its working age population in Devon claiming JSA at 1.3%, although still experienced a fall from the previous month. At 1.3% however, Torridge’s figure is still significantly below the national average of 1.9%.

For the first time since September 2014, the number of people aged 24 and under claiming JSA in Devon (as a proportion of the total claimants) fell below the UK average figure; standing at 20.6% between April and May 2015, compared to the UK at 21.1%.

All districts saw either a reduction or no change in younger claimants since April, with North Devon experiencing the largest fall of 35 claimants.

Falling youth unemployment is in line with the usual reduction in claimants aged 24 and under for this time of year. This tends to link to Devon’s seasonal industries recruiting for the summer season.

Devon County Councillor Andrew Leadbetter, Cabinet Member for Economy and Growth, said:

“The fall in Job Seekers Allowance claimants we have witnessed over the last year, both in terms of overall and youth unemployment, are an extremely encouraging sign for Devon and the health of its economy.

Both youth and longer-term unemployment, however, remain a challenge and as a council we continue to back schemes which aim to reduce unemployment, boost wages and diversify the Devon economy. We are currently working to ensure new European funding programmes tackle both harder to reach groups who need the confidence and inspiration to enter the labour market and develop a career progression path to help their earning potential, and that employment and skills programmes support businesses in their aspiration to grow through a skilled workforce.

We aim to build on schemes such as the Plymouth and Peninsula City Deal Mentors pilot, in which Devon County Council is a partner. This scheme is doing great work when it comes to tackling our challenging issue of youth unemployment and I hope that we will see further good news in the near future.“