Latest Unemployment Figures!!

New figures published by the Office for National Statistics today show that while the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance has gone down this month, there are nearly five million people claiming one of the main out of work benefits.

Minister for Employment Chris Grayling said:

“……… we need to create real incentives for businesses to grow and create job opportunities.

“The figures also demonstrate why our planned Work Programme is so important. With nearly five million people on out of work benefits and record numbers of people who are economically inactive, we have to make sure that as the economy grows and jobs are created in the next few years that we learn from the mistakes of the past, and ensure that we provide real help and support for people on benefits so they can take advantage of employment opportunities and make the move into work.”

THE FIGURES

February 2010 to April 2010

The numbers of people in work rose slightly this quarter.

• 28.86 million in work
• employment rate 72.1% down 0.1% on the quarter and down 1.2% on the year
• JSA claimants fell.
• 5 million people claiming out of work benefits
• The claimant unemployment rate  is 4.6% down 0.1 percentage points on the month
• ESA: the numbers claiming ESA has remained stable since November 2009.  The figure stands at 2.62 million
• numbers receiving Lone Parent benefit has fallen in April to 675,000

Read the figures for yourself……The Figures