Manufacturing premises to let in Bristol encouraged by employment figures

Central Park, the manufacturing premises to let in Bristol, is encouraged to see that more than 6,000 people have come off unemployment benefit across the Bristol area in the last year, showing the areas willingness and readiness to fill job opportunities.

Across the West of England, the area covering the four local authorities around Bristol, 12,226 people are claiming jobseekers’ allowance, or 1.7 per cent of the working-age population. That’s 6,046 fewer than a year ago, a fall of 0.9 percentage points. Of those claiming the benefit, 7,714 are men and 4,512 are women, but a lot more men have come off the benefit than women.

Bristol East Labour MP Kerry McCarthy welcomed the fall in unemployment but said: “Women are finding it harder than men to move into work. My concern is that this reflects the cost of childcare in Bristol, and also issues like transport – if women need to find jobs which fit into school hours, they need reliable, affordable childcare and reliable, affordable public transport too.”

Nikki Lewis, employer and partnership manager the Department for Work and Pensions across the West of England, said it was “difficult to pinpoint” why there was disparity among genders. “Many socio-demographic factors can play a part,” she said. “There is no difference in the service provided by the jobcentres to both men and women, as every person receives individually tailored support from their work coach.”

Adam Powell, skills director for the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership, said it was “great news” the benefit claimant count continued to fall across the West of England, with the number of people claiming jobseekers’ allowance now at two-thirds of the level it was this time last year.

For the South West, the unemployment rate is 5.4 per cent of the working age population, down 0.8 per cent on the year but up 0.4 per cent on the previous quarter.

Source: Bristol Post