Damian has welcomed news that the labour market has finished a record breaking year with unemployment down by over 100,000 and the rate remaining at 4.8 per cent across the UK.
In East Hampshire, the number of people claiming the key out of work benefits has fallen by 448 – a 58 per cent drop – since 2010.
Commenting on the figures, Damian said:
“Today’s figures are good news for families in East Hampshire and across the UK. As well as unemployment continuing to run at a 10-year low, the number of women in work is at a record high of almost 15 million and youth unemployment is down 352,000 since 2010.
“There are 31.8 million people in work, up by 2.7 million since 2010 – that’s well over 1,000 jobs created on average every day – and average wages excluding bonuses grew by 2.6 per cent over the last year
“There is still more to do to help people into work, but these figures are encouraging as we head into 2017.”