Just the job

Wishaw has seen a drop in the number of Job Seekers Allowance claimants.

And the number of 18 to 24- year- olds claiming the benefit in North Lanarkshire as a whole fell by almost a quarter in the year to November 2017.

New figures from the Department of Work and Pensions ( DWP) reveal that the number of people claiming Job Seekers A l l owance in Nor th Lanarkshire Council’s Wishaw ward in November 2017 was 197 – eight fewer than the previous month.

Fourteen fewer people claimed the allowance in November 2017 than in the same month last year.

In the Murdostoun ward, 204 people claimed Job Seekers Allowance, compared to 211 in October, and in Fortissat, there were 139 claimants in November – a drop of 12 on the October figure.

Compared to 2016 figures, there were seven fewer claimants in Murdostoun and five fewer in Fortissat.

Motherwell South East and Ravenscraig bucked the downward trend with 310 claimants in November 2017 – an increase of 11 on the previous month.

DWP figures for November 2017 reveal that the number of claimants in this ward saw an increase of 31 on the previous year.

Compared to the previous month and the previous year, the picture in the Motherwell North ward remained more or less the same with 170 claimants.

Comparative figures also remained static in Motherwell West with 147 claimants.

In November 2017, the total number of Job Seekers Allowance claims in North Lanarkshire was 3312 – a drop of 27 – that’s 0.8 per cent on the previous month.

The number of claimants in the local authority fell by 82 on the November 2016 figure – a drop of 2.4 per cent.

The number of 18 to 24- year- olds claiming the allowance in North Lanarkshire in November 2017 was 275 – that’s a dramatic drop of 90, or 24.7 per cent on the 2016 figure.

But in the 50 to 65-year-old age bracket, the number of North Lanarkshire claimants rose by 3.5 per cent on the previous November to 1035.

A spokesperson for the DWP said: “At this time of the year, employers tend to take on people for seasonal vacancies, which is why the North Lanarkshire labour market is quite buoyant just now.”