West Berkshire unemployment continues to fall

Labour Market Statistics for November released by the Office for National Statistics showed that the total number of people claiming Job Seeker’s Allowance in West Berkshire was 631 - 0.6 per cent of the population - compared to 1,116 at the same time last year.
Of the 631 claimants, 105 were aged between 18 and 24.
The fall represents a 43 per cent drop for all claimants in the last 12 months, while the number of 18-24s fell by 53 per cent.
Stretching back to 2010 West Berkshire’s unemployment levels have witnessed a drop of 1,183 with young people making up 320 of that figure. Since 2010, the number of unemployed people claiming the allowance has fallen by 65 per cent, with the number of young claimants falling by 75 per cent.
The manager of Newbury Job Centre, Dominic Carey, said that recruitment in Newbury was quite buoyant as a number of companies had been taking on staff, including the Travis Perkins Group, which is opening three stores in the town, and Côte who are opening a restaurant in Northbrook Street.
“Newbury seems to be in a good position and we are happy with the economic activity,” he said.
Slough had the highest rate of unemployment with 1,668 - 1.8 per cent of the population –followed by Reading with 1,631 - 1.5 per cent of the population. Bracknell and Windsor and Maidenhead both had 0.8 per cent of their population out of work – 644 and 739 respectively – while the number of unemployed people in Wokingham stood at 540 or 0.5 per cent of the population.