Jobs market bounces back

NUMBER OF VACANCIES IN CITY RETURNS TO PRE-PANDEMIC LEVEL

THE labour market in Derby has bounced back to employment levels not seen since before the pandemic, according to Derby Jobcentre.

According to the latest figures from the Department for Work and Pensions, the number of people claiming Universal Credit in the city has continued to drop.

The figure now sits at 10,301 people claiming Universal Credit in Derby, with almost 2,000 fewer claimants than the previous year.

Nationally, the number of claimants of Universal Credit rose by 37,041 between September and October of this year and the latest figures put the total at 5,775,942.

According to Lisa Gill, an employer advisor at Derby Jobcentre, Derby city ranks 98th out of 374 local authorities in the UK for the number of claimants who have left the unemployment register between August 2020 and August 2021.

The government’s job search site, Find A Job, lists more than 1,900 job adverts within the city of Derby. The figure more than doubles when searching for vacancies across the county.

Lisa said: “There is so much activity at the moment across the whole of Derby and Derbyshire. Obviously, it is peak time for a lot of companies.

“We are certainly seeing preCovid levels in terms of job adverts on Find A Job. I think the location of where we are, on the M1 corridor, there are a lot of logistics companies that are opening in our patch and has kept this particular area extremely buoyant.”

Lisa is encouraging job seekers to take advantage of the number of temporary vacancies on the run-up to Christmas and said: “They are a great way for job seekers to build key skills and confidence. It’s also a good way of giving themselves the best chance of securing a permanent role if one becomes available.”