Employment Minister's reaction to SW jobless
The Conservative MP Mark Hoban is Minister for Employment. He told ITV News West Country that the South West economy is diverse:
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CBI response to unemployment figures
– Neil Carberry, Director of Employment and Skills, CBIGiven the challenging economic conditions at the end of last year, it's unsurprising that we're now seeing fewer people in work. What's encouraging, however, is that economic conditions seem to be improving and that full-time jobs are still being created. With these figures showing the highest number of vacancies since 2008, this reflects businesses' more positive view of the year ahead."
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Union's response to number of people out of work
– Frances O'Grady, General Secretary, Trades Union CongressThese jobs figures are troubling. There are now more people out of work today than when the coalition took office three years ago. Those in work are taking a hammering in their pay packets with wage growth down to just 0.4%, while prices rise far more quickly. It's no wonder the economy is struggling when people in work are getting poorer every month."
Business reaction to jobless figures
– But Martin Beck, UK Economist, Capital EconomicsFollowing recent positive news on the economy, today's UK labour market data provides something of a reality check. At least there was one piece of good news, with unemployment on the claimant count measure seeing a further drop in April, down by 7,300."
Labour's reaction to unemployment figures
– Labour MP Liam Byrne, Shadow Work and Pensions SecretaryWe now have definitive proof the Government has simply failed to get Britain back to work. Families struggling for work will be asking quite simply, what planet are these people on?"
Man loses 15 stone and starts business after a decade of unemployment
A man who used to weigh 50 stone and spent a decade unemployed has turned his life around. Gerald Ash from Gloucester has now set up his own window cleaning business and got his weight down to 35 stone.
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Unemployment up
Unemployment has risen in the South West, according to the new figures out today. Two thousand MORE people were out of work between August and October compared with earlier in the year.
But despite that, the South West still has the lowest unemployment rate in the country - at five point seven per cent. Employment Minister Mark Hoban gave us his response.
Employment Minister: "good signs for the South West"
Employment minister Mark Hoban says there are good signs for future jobs in the South West after new figures reveal unemployment has fallen.
Read more about unemployment figures
Nationally, around 50,000 more people were in work according to the official figures for July to September. The unemployment figure is 2.51 million. Average earnings are also up 1.8%.
Employment Minister says youth unemployment fall is 'welcome'
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that a total of 155,000 people were unemployed in the South West between July and September. The region's unemployment rate was 5.8% and saw a drop of 1.3% during the period.
It's good news to see yet another increase in the number of people in work and to see unemployment fall again. The fall in youth unemployment is particularly welcome, although we're not complacent about the scale of the challenge still facing us.
– Employment Minister Mark HobanWe're working hard to help the long-term unemployed back into a job. That's why we've committed to supporting the hardest-to-help people over a two-year period through the Work Programme so that we can help them overcome their barriers to work and get them into sustainable jobs.
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