Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

Unemployment continues to fall in Carmarthenshire with a recorded drop of over 26% for the past year. Latest figures reveal a fall in claimants for Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) of 26% in the Carmarthen East and Dinefwr area; of 25.9% in Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire; and 24.3% in Llanelli. The statistics issued by the Department for Work and Pensions show a steady reduction in unemployment from March 2014 to March 2015, at 26.3% down over the year. It fell by 2.2% from February to March with the biggest drop recorded in the Carmarthen East and Dinefwr area of 6.6%. There are currently 2,166 JSA claimants in the county, of these 1,389 are male and 777 female, a total of 1.9% of the population in Carmarthenshire. The highest number of people unemployed – some 955 - are in the age category 25 to 44. Menna Davies, Employer and Partnerships Manager at Jobcentre Directorate, Ammanford said: “Jobcentres have seen a steady rise in employers contacting with urgent vacancies – many fro...

Latest figures show that unemployment continues to fall in Carmarthenshire making it one of the lowest claimant areas in Wales. There has been a decrease of 23% in the number of claimants over a period of 12 months, from 3,211 in June 2013 to 2,472 in June this year. It continues to fall with a further decrease of 6.8%, or 181 people, in the last month, now ranking Carmarthenshire as sixth lowest in Wales for Jobseekers Allowance claims, and lower than the Welsh average. In particular, the number of young jobseekers aged between and 18 and 24 has plummeted over a 12 month period. Statistics show that claimants in that age bracket fell by over a third from June 2013 to June 2014 – from 995 to 645. Many young claimants have found work in the retail and hospitality sectors. Jobcentre Employer and Partnerships Manager Menna Davies said: “The good news continues for Carmarthenshire with a drop of 815 claimants on the Jobseekers Allowance register.” Figures for Carmarthenshire show that ma...

A group of long-term unemployed jobseekers were bussed into London to work as unpaid stewards during the diamond jubilee celebrations and told to sleep under London Bridge before working on the river pageant. See Guardian story.