Yorkshire leads a ‘step in right direction’ as jobless figures fall

Ministers hailed a “step in the right direction” as figures released yesterday showed unemployment fell across the region by 21,000 over the three months to February – outpacing every other part of the UK.

Business leaders in Yorkshire welcomed the figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and said their own research suggested the trend appears to have continued into the second quarter of the year.

However, the overall employment rate for Yorkshire still remains stubbornly below the national average, despite the unexpected improvement since the start of the year.

Across the country as a whole, the slight fall in total unemployment of 35,000 was the first since May 2011, while the number of people in work rose by 54,000.

Employment minister Chris Grayling said: “Today’s figures are a step in the right direction but we still have a long way to go.

“We are pushing ahead with our strategy to promote investment and new jobs in the private sector and support people without work to take up those jobs.

“I am particularly encouraged that overall employment is now growing, despite reductions in the public sector.

“There are still economic challenges ahead and the Government is reacting by helping people to find employment through initiatives with the private sector at their heart.”

The total number of people unemployed in Yorkshire is now 248,000 – just under one in 10 of the total number able to work.

Other national measures of employment released by the ONS offered more mixed messages.

Youth unemployment remains above one million, with the number of young people out of work long term still on the rise.

The number of unemployed women increased by 8,000 to 1.14 million, the highest figure for almost 25 years, and the number of people out of work for over a year jumped by 26,000 to 883,000, the worst total since 1996.

The figures also showed an 89,000 rise in the number of people working part-time because they could not find full-time jobs, to a total of 1.4 million, the highest figure since 1992.

But the news of an overall fall in Yorkshire offers a much-needed boost to a regional economy which has struggled to move forward following the deep recession.

Hayley Johnson, spokeswoman at Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “The figures are encouraging and the fact Yorkshire experienced the largest fall in unemployment simply highlights the economic potential of our region.

“The chamber is hopeful this upturn will continue, as our own quarterly economic survey shows an increase in the number of businesses expanding their workforce over the next three months.”

But the chamber did stress its concerns about the number of young people who have been out of work for over a year.

“Young people have been disproportionately affected by the recent recession and we need to do more to help this generation of workers,” Ms Johnson said.

“The network would like to see further investment in the Government’s Youth Contract, as well as better promotion of the benefits of apprenticeships.”

Labour welcomed the small improvement in the overall picture yesterday, but said there was little cause for real celebration.

Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Liam Byrne said: “We’ve had two years of excuses and now we’ve got the evidence – this Government has utterly failed to tackle Britain’s jobs emergency, and we are limping along in crisis.”