The number of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance in Brighton and Hove fell slightly last month.
The June total was 6,070 – or 3.4 per cent – for the area served by Brighton and Hove City Council. In May it was 6,111.
The figures, published by the Office for National Statistics, show that there were 1,499 jobcentre vacancies – or four per jobseeker.
And 42,600 people were classed as economically inactive – 23.9 per cent or nearly one in four of the working age population.
The figures, published yesterday (Wednesday 13 July), also show that 1,505 young people – aged 16 to 24 – were claiming jobseeker’s allowance. The figure is slightly down on the 1,555 recorded in May.
Within the past week the council has approved the signing of two deals valued at about £500,000 to tackle youth unemployment.
Councillor Amy Kennedy, deputy leader of the council, approved the schemes at a cabinet member meeting for planning, employment, economy and regeneration.
The Green administration believes that the two schemes – one of which runs for five years while the other is a two-year contract – could pay for themselves.
Apprentices
The aim of the five year government-backed scheme, which will be run locally by a company called Avanta, is to actively manage unemployed young people into jobs.
The two-year project is funded with European Union money aimed at placing graduates and apprentices.
Opposition councillors at the meeting, last Thursday (7 July), broadly welcomed the initiatives.
But both Conservative councillor Carol Theobald and Labour councillor Warren Morgan expressed some concerns.
They were worried about the possibility, albeit slim, that that council could end up footing a six-figure bill if the schemes failed to meet their targets.
And Councillor Theobald complained that the detailed report about the schemes had only been made available shortly before the meeting, giving her too little time to study it properly.
The June claimant count figures published yesterday have also been broken down by parliamentary constituency and show very little change since May.
In Brighton Kemptown 2,125 people claimed jobseeker’s allowance last month, or 3.7 per cent, down from 2,181, or 3.8 per cent.
In Brighton Pavilion 2,110 people claimed jobseeker’s allowance last month, or 3 per cent, down from 2,135, or 3.1 per cent.
In Hove 2,130 people made claims, or 3.3 per cent, up five from the 2,125 claimants in May.
