Rotherham’s jobless number falls

Official government figures released on Wednesday (Jan 21) showed that the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance in Rotherham — which also includes Maltby, Dinnington and Mexborough – has fallen.

The number of people claiming the benefit in the area is 5,061, a fall of 1,964 on this time last year.

For people aged 18 to 24, there are 1,260 people on Jobseeker’s Allowance, a fall of 660 from last year.

Nigel Coleman, of Jobcentre Plus, said that national figures showed there were 512,000 more people in work than at this time in 2014.

The unemployment rate nationally is 5.8 per cent of the adult working population, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Mr Coleman said that locally recent job opportunities have appeared in areas such as food production, publishing, call centres and retail and that there will be initiatives to highlight more vacancies in the near future.

Mr Coleman told the Advertiser: “There are some seasonal jobs out there but what we are seeing is that continually we are getting employers wanting to get in touch with us.”

The employment expert said that Sheffield continued to attract workers from outlying towns like Rotherham and Barnsley.

Mr Coleman said that Jobcentre Plus would be highlighting opportunities in the hospitality sector over the next few weeks.

He added that jobs involved with seasonal work in the spring and summer are set to be offered by employers through Jobcentre Plus.

Employment minister Esther McVey welcomed the latest figures.

She said: “With more people in work than ever before and a record number of vacancies in the economy, local businesses up and down the country are feeling more confident, taking on new staff and giving people the security of a regular wage.

“As part of our long-term plan, we’re supporting businesses to create the jobs which people need.

“Yorkshire and Humberside has an employment rate higher than London and employment is at a near record high with 2.5 million people in work.”