Christmas jobs boost

THE number of Oldhamer claiming jobseekers allowance has fallen.

A drop in the claimant count from 7,952 in November to 7,732 in December has been attributed to seasonal working.

It means 5,009 men are claiming benefit in Oldham, down by 180 from 5,189 last month, and 2,723 women, down by 40 from 2,763.

Compared to this month last year there are nine fewer men signing on - but an increase of 299 women.

Nationally, a record number of people are in work after the biggest quarterly fall in unemployment for over a decade.

The jobless total fell by 82,000 in the three months to October to 2.51 million, down by 128,000 on a year ago.