More women without a job

OLDHAM’s jobless total fell last month by 25 but worryingly, the number of women out of work in the borough rose by 42.

The number of men who are out of work fell by 67 to 4,789 — the lowest monthly figure since January 2009.

The total number of people out of work in Oldham during July was 6,480 — representing 4.7 per cent of the population — way above the national average of 3.6 per cent and higher than the regional average of four per cent.

Only Rochdale, Manchester and Salford have higher percentages of jobless people.

Nationally, the largest rise in employment for more than 21 years helped drive the number of jobless down by 49,000 in the three months to June, the official figures revealed.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the UK unemployment level fell to 2.46 million after the biggest quarterly decrease for three years. The drop came after a 184,000 increase in the number of employed to 29 million, marking the largest quarterly hike since the three months to May 1989.

The number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance last month fell by 3,800 to 1.46 million.

Employment rose as the number of part–time workers lifted by 115,000 in the quarter to a record 7.84 million — suggesting more people are struggling to find full–time permanent jobs. The ONS reported a rise in the number of people in full–time work, up by an encouraging 68,000 to 21.2 million in the quarter to June.

Today’s figures also show the sixth successive fall in the claimant count for those on Jobseeker’s Allowance, down 3,800 to 1.46 million — although this was lower than expected.