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Member of Parliament for Bradford East@DavidWardMP on Twitter and Facebook |
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David Ward MP <>
Fall in Unemployment in Bradford
April 22, 2012 6:49 PM
Figures released today show that the number of unemployed in Bradford fell in the first quarter of 2012
Across the UK unemployment figures also fell by 35,000, bringing the total number of those unemploymed to 2.65 million. Despite the good news, Bradford East is still the 31st highest of the 650 UK constituencies for unemployment claimaints.
The number of people claiming Jobseekers Allowance increased by 3,600 between February and March 2012 to 1.61 million people aged 18 or over. Overall, the unemployment rate - the percentage of economically active people who are unemployed - was 8.3% in December-February 2012, 0.1 percentage points lower than the last quarter but 0.5 percentage points higher than a year ago.
Commenting, David said:
"This is good news but we can't be complacent. Since being elected I have campaigned for bringing greater prosperity and jobs to Bradford.
"We must build on these latest figures and make sure that students and those struggling in the job market are not left behind.
"My Party has a plan - the Youth Contract - and we must do everything in our power to make sure the figures continue to fall. We must continue to work with companies like Morrisions who want to make a difference to the number one problem we are facing in Bradford"
Chris Grayling, the employment Minister, also commented:
"These are encouraging figures but a long way to go. And of course it's the case that unemployment in the UK is much too high and we want to see it come down as fast as possible."