Positive news for Yorkshire and Humber’s jobs market as employment continues to rise

16/08/2010

The number of people employed in Yorkshire and Humber has increased by 31,000 in April to June 2010, according to new Labour Market Statistics from the Office of National Statistics, released this week.

Employment stood at 2,427,000 in this period, increasing the employment rate from 68.9 per cent to 69.7 per cent from the previous quarter. April to June’s figures are also an increase on the same time last year, with an extra 35,000 people in employment in the region.

Patrick Bowes, Chief Economist for Yorkshire Forward comments:
“These figures mean that the positive trend in employment is continuing; not only are more people in employment than this time last year, but there are also more people in employment than just three months ago.

We hope to see these trends continue, particularly when considering the production industries such as manufacturing, which are so important to the Yorkshire and Humber economy, have shown such strong growth in employment.”

Unemployment for the same period, April to June 2010 was down by 15,000, dropping from 258,000 to 244,000.

It was also found that unemployment among men continued to exceed that among women, with rates of 10.9 per cent and 7.1 per cent respectively. However, both rates fell in the 3 months to June compared with the previous quarter.

The latest figures demonstrate that the seasonally adjusted* Claimant Count continued to decrease, standing at 142,900 thousand (at a rate of 5.4 per cent) in July 2010.

The number of vacancies notified to Jobcentres in July 2010 stood at 35,700, up from the previous month’s figure of 34,600 and the seasonally adjusted number of notified vacancies remained largely unchanged between June and July 2010 at around 34,500.

Notes to editors:
*The seasonal adjustment of employment/ unemployment figures takes into account any increase / decrease in figures due to seasonal factors, for example; national holidays, seasonal industries and student migration.

Yorkshire Forward produces a briefing document for new labour market statistics each month. The briefing provides analysis of the key findings from the data, and is available to download at: www.yorkshire-forward.com/labourmarket

Full definitions of the terms used in this notice can be found in the monthly Statistical Bulletin on the ONS website: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/onlineproducts/lms_regional.asp

Yorkshire Forward

  • Yorkshire Forward is the Regional Development Agency behind the economic regeneration of Yorkshire and Humber. It aims to make a positive difference by investing in jobs, improving towns and cities, and in supporting businesses throughout the region.
  • Yorkshire Forward’s investment across the region is maximised by attracting European Regional Development Funding.