New figures show that more people are in work than ever before, with 3,405,525 people in work in the North West – an increase of 226,525 more people in work since 2010.
While in Barrow & Furness the number of people claiming the key out of work benefits has fallen by 787 – a 41 per cent drop – since 2010.
Simon Fell has welcomed the new figures, which also show that the level of people out of work is at its lowest level in over 40 years, and the number of young people out of work is down by nearly 408,000 since 2010.
Conservative Spokesman for Barrow & Furness, Simon Fell, said:
“Under the Conservatives, unemployment continues to fall to record lows, meaning more people have the security of a job and are able to provide for their families.
“And with wages rising faster than prices, pay packets can go further. We know there is more to do. That’s why we launched our modern Industrial Strategy, to help build an economy fit for the future and deliver more well-paid jobs.
“Labour’s reckless and ill-thought-out policies would put all this at risk.”
- Employment: 32.34 million (up 396,000 over the last year and up more than 3.3 million since 2010).
- Employment rate: 75.6 per cent (up 0.8 points over the past year and up 5.4 points since 2010) – the highest since comparable records began in 1971. The UK has the 3rd highest employment rate in the G7.
- Unemployment: 1.42 million (down 116,000 over the past year and down by almost 1.1 million since 2010). Youth unemployment has fallen by 43.4 per cent since 2010.
- Unemployment rate: 4.2 per cent (down 0.4 points over the past year and down 3.8 points since 2010) – the lowest since 1975.
- Wages: Wages are rising faster than prices – this is good news, but there is more to do. Wages rose by 2.9 per cent in the three months to March, compared with inflation of 2.5 per cent over the last year.
- Youth unemployment: There are over 407,700 fewer young people out of work since 2010