UNEMPLOYMENT in Coventry is at its lowest since records began 30 years ago.
According to new figures released by the Department for Work and Pensions, the number of 18 to 24-year-olds claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) in the city is at its lowest since comparable records started in 1985.
The report states that in the last year the number of people claiming JSA has fallen by 37.7 per cent and that long-term youth unemployment in the area has also seen a significant reduction.
There are currently 4,676 people in Coventry claiming the allowance, including 160 people aged 18 to 24-years-olds who have been claiming JSA for more than six months and 1,270 Coventrians over the aged of 25 who have been receiving the grant for over a year.
Marion Plant, chair of the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership’s Jobs & Skills Business Group, said the figures were extremely encouraging.
She added: “The three priority areas for the Job & Skills Business Group are skills, social inclusion and employment and this latest overview of the labour market in Coventry and Warwickshire is fantastic news.
“The Department for Work and Pensions has provided a number of schemes through its Youth Contract programme to tackle youth unemployment including work experience and the figures show these are having a positive knock-on effect.
“Ensuring young people have plenty of work placement opportunities makes a real difference when going for interviews as well as looking pro-active on CVs and they are gaining the skills which employers need.
“These statistics are extremely encouraging but we shouldn’t become complacent.
“The real challenge is making sure we find out about individuals who are not known to the Department for Work and Pensions because they are not claiming benefits so that they can also be helped to find work.”
