North's unemployment rate down
the North's unemployment rate has taken another downward move, according to new figures released by the British government today.
Seasonally-adjusted unemployment for the quarter to the end of February was 37,000 – down 3,000 from both the previous quarter and the same period a year earlier.
The 4.8% rate represented a drop of 0.3% on the quarter and 0.4% on the year.
The rate is the same as the UK national average and lower than in London, Scotland and the North East.
The more recent unemployment benefit claimant total stood at 29,100, 3.4% of the workforce, in March – the same as the previous month but down 100 over the last three months and 3,200 over the year.
The claimant rate is well ahead of the UK average – 2.7% – and is the equal second highest in the nation, the figures showed.
At the same time the figures released by Britain's Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment recorded an estimated 6,000 – 0.7% – increase in total employment over the quarter to 740,000.
On the down side, there was a jump in confirmed redundancies in March, 774 compared with 160 in February and 649 in March 2004.
