Devon’s JSA claimants rise slightly in July
The rise however equated to just 59 claimants, not enough to change the overall claimant rate for Devon as a proportion of the county’s working age population. The rate remained the same as in June at 0.8 per cent, in contrast to 1.8 per cent UK's average.
The increase represents a 1.6 per cent rise in Devon's claimants between June and July 2015.
However, the month's claimant count was 20 per cent lower than the same month in 2014, and 60 per cent lower than July 2011.
East Devon, Exeter and Teignbridge were the only districts to experience an increase in claimants, with East Devon experiencing the largest rise of 52 claimants. All other districts experienced decreases in claimants.
The claimant rate, which is a proportion of working age population claiming JSA, remained largely unchanged at district level.
Torridge district had the highest claimant rate at 1.2 per cent, falling 0.1 per cent from the previous month, but still far below the UK rate of 1.8 per cent.
The number of people aged 24 and under claiming JSA in Devon rose by just 20 claimants or 2.7 per cent between June and July.
The highest increase was in Exeter with 20 additional claimants. Mid Devon fell by 5 claimants.
As a proportion of total claimants, the number of people aged under 24 claiming JSA in Devon was 0.3 per cent below the UK average figure for July, standing at 20.6 per cent.
JSA claimants aged under 24 in Exeter, North Devon, South Hams and Teignbridge increased by about 1 per cent from June. That number fell in East Devon, Mid Devon and West Devon by around 1 per cent, with Torridge remaining unchanged.
Devon County Councillor Andrew Leadbetter, Cabinet Member for Economy and Growth, said: “Whilst July’s Job Seekers Allowance data shows a slight rise in claimants, the overall trend for the year remains encouraging for Devon.
"The small rise in youth age claimants for July is something we will continue to monitor closely, however such fluctuations need to be put in the context of the overall trend which shows youth claimants far below where they were a year ago for Devon.
"As ever we are not complacent, and continue to back schemes which aim to reduce unemployment, boost wages and increase the diversity of the Devon economy.
"Our enterprise in schools programme, for example, is working hard to increase business engagement with schools, imparting valuable entrepreneurial skills to our young people whilst helping to boost employability and increase entrepreneurial spirt.
"We continue to back our network of Work Hubs throughout Devon, providing valuable shared employment space for start-ups.
"In addition we continue to push the development of Exeter Science and Sky parks which are raising the profile of Devon as a place for science, technology and innovation."
