Unemployment in Harrogate and Knaresborough has fallen to match its lowest ever rate. Official figures released this week show that the unemployment rate locally was 0.9 per cent with just 446 people claiming job seekers allowance or other out-of-work benefits. This is just one person more than the previous low in June of last year.
Out of that figure 100 are aged between 18 and 24 years old. Of the 650 constituencies in the UK, the employment rate in Harrogate and Knaresborough is lower than in 579 other constituencies.
Mr Jones commented:
We have seen consistently low unemployment locally for some time now and it is pleasing that this trend has been sustained over a long period – since early 2013 in fact.
This doesn’t mean that we can be complacent. Government, local authorities and businesses need to ensure that the climate for job creation is right. We also need to look at the training and skills required in the workforce – our schools, colleges, universities and job centres are key partners here too. Keeping unemployment low and providing our economy with the skills it needs is a very much a team game.
While we can all be pleased with the latest figures it is important that we continue our efforts to ensure that everyone who wants a job is best placed to find one and that we have a strong economy able to generate job opportunities.
