UNEMPLOYMENT has fallen again in Dorset – with the number of people claiming unemployment benefit in Weymouth and Portland and Purbeck down 41 percent against last year’s figures.

Figures released by the Department for Work and Pensions show that between April 2014 and April 2015, the number of people claiming Job Seeker’s Allowance (JSA), the measure of unemployment, in Weymouth and Portland fell from 900 across all age ranges to 530 – a drop of 370 or 41 percent.

The number of people who receiving JSA in Purbeck fell from 305 to 180 between April 2014 and April 2015 – a drop of 125 or 41 percent.

West Dorset saw a drop from 460 to 350 across the same time scale – down 110, a difference of 24 percent.

North Dorset was down from 315 people claiming JSA to 245, a drop of 70 or 22 percent.

The DWP said that the South West region has the highest employment rate of any UK region, with more people employed in the area than ever before.

And this week the Government announced it would be bringing in new measures to support a further two million rise in employment, and helping people with childcare, including increasing free childcare for three to four year olds from 15 to 30 hours.

Senior Account Manager at DWP David McArthur said he was delighted with the figures and said they showed a ‘fantastic’ year-on-year difference.

He said: “It reflects the strong economy in Dorset. We are leading the way with regards the highest employment rate of any UK region.”

He added that the figures are from April 2014 to April 2015, so took into account the account the drop in the number of people unemployed due to jobs created during the tourist season.

He said: “There’s usually a drop at this time of year but to have a year-on-year drop of that is fairly substantial.”

Mr McArthur added that Dorset was doing so well leading the way in helping people back to work that in April and May a delegation of 60 managers and staff from the Turkish employment service had visited Dorset to learn about their best practise.

South Dorset MP Richard Drax welcomed the figures as ‘great news’ and said that it showed the UK was heading in the right direction.

He said it was important to carry on creating the infrastructure for industry to thrive. He said: “Every job that’s created is very good news in the sense it gives that person, that family, the opportunity to move on in life and to aspire and achieve all that they want to."

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