Jobless figures drop 24 per cent

South Holland has seen a drop of almost 25 per cent in the number of people unemployed in the past year. Figures for March show that there were 356 fewer people claiming Jobseekers Allowance than in the same month last year – a drop of 24 per cent. It means that just 2.2 per cent of the population of the district were unemployed in March, the same as the previous month and down from 2.8per cent in March 2013. The trend is mirrored across Lincolnshire. Latest figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that in March 2014 the number of people claiming Jobseekers Allowance in Lincolnshire was 12,219, a decrease of 588 on February, and lower by 2,834 than March last year. The Lincolnshire March 2014 total of 12,219 claimants is also the county’s lowest total for March since 2008. The county’s unemployment claimant rate reduced by 0.1 per cent to 2.8 per cent this month. Nationally in England and Wales the claimant rate reduced by 0.2 per cent, so that it is now also 2.8 per cent. A spokesman for the ONS said: “We would anticipate unemployment reducing from a winter peak in Lincolnshire around this time of year due to seasonal changes in the local labour market. “However, unemployment nationally has gradually decreased more than the Lincolnshire trend in the last six months, so the England and Wales rate has now reduced to equal the Lincolnshire rate.”