According to figures recently released by the Office for National Statistics, the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) in the UK has fallen for the first time in almost two years.

In the last month, 1.6 million people claimed JSA, which was 6,300 less than the previous month. The figures also showed that the number of young people not in employment, excluding full-time students, fell by 9,000 to 676,000.

A further positive sign was the fact that there were 191,000 redundancies in the quarter from August to October, which was 42,000 down from the preceding quarter, although still 12,000 more than the same quarter last year.

Yvette Cooper, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, commented: “It is encouraging that there are more people in jobs … and that so many more young people have been helped. Government action is keeping unemployment much lower than in previous recessions.

“But it is still tough for a lot of people and we still expect unemployment to increase again in the New Year. So we are determined to do more.”

She also confirmed that from January everyone under 25 will be guaranteed either a job, training or work experience if they have been on unemployment benefit for more than six months, which will provide 100,000 extra youth opportunities over and above the 300,000 already announced.

Also, to ensure that work is always the best financial option, everyone who has been on benefit for more than six months, regardless of their age, is guaranteed to be better off when working by a minimum of £40 per week.

Jim Knight, Employment Minister, stated: “Government is working with the public, private and voluntary sectors to create these job opportunities as part of our Backing Young Britain campaign - helping young people get a foot on the career ladder and ensuring no one is written off.”

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