Drop in Sunderland’s jobless benefits claimant numbers

The number of people classed as looking for work in Sunderland fell last month.

There were 5,500 people claiming Out of Work Benefits, including Jobs e e ke r ’s A l l owa n c e a n d Universal Credit, in the city in October, down from 5,605 the previous month.

Steve McCall, from JobCentre Plus, said the drop was unlikely to be a result of Christmas jobs, with most temporary posts having already been filled.

“There is still a lot of recruitment going on in the region,” he said.

“We have a lot of call centres looking for staff and the likes of Nissan and Unipres.”

The latest figures show employment in the North East rose by 10,000 over the quarter and 25,000 over the year to 1,234,000 – a rate of 72.7%, compared to 75% nationally. The claimant count stands at 53,600 or 4.3%, compared to a national 2.3%.

North East England Chamber of Commerce policy adviser Paul Carbert said: “The labour market statistics continue the recent positive trend for the North East.

“Employment levels and the employment rate are at record highs, and the number of part-time workers who cannot find a full-time job has fallen over the past year. Unemployment is at the lowest rate for a decade.

“However, the gap between our region and London and the South East remains too large.

“We h ave c a l l e d o n th e Government to address this by using the Budget to correct the under-investment in transport infrastructure and provide guarantees over future regional business fin a n c e o n c e Br i ta i n l eave s the EU.”