Fall in jobless total

UNEMPLOYMENT has fallen across Oldham, according to the latest official figures.

The number of people in the borough claiming jobseekers’ allowance (JSA) was 5,739 last month (3,596 men and 2,143 women), compared with 6,244 the previous month.

The claimant numbers for Oldham have fallen by 1.6 per cent in 12 months.

Youth unemployment for 16 to-24-year-olds in Greater Manchester fell by 1,200 to around 17,900. There was also a decline in long-term JSA claimants in Greater Manchester to 32,700.

The number of people in work across the UK has risen by 378,000 over the last year to a record-breaking 29.9 million.

There were 2.47 million people unemployed between July to September, down by 48,000 on the year and the lowest total since the spring of 2011, while the number of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance was cut for the 12th month in a row in October, down by 41,700 to 1.31 million, the lowest for almost five years.