I am pleased to see that the number of people unemployed in the Bury North constituency has shown another small decline this month. Of course, nothing dramatic will happen over the course of four weeks but the long term trend on unemployment is encouraging. Of course there is still much more to do and unemployment will only continue to fall if employers have the confidence the economy is going to improve.
Cutting Employers National Insurance by up to £2,000 will also help stimulate growth in the jobs market with thousands of small businesses in Bury, Ramsbottom and Tottington no longer having to pay any employers national insurance contributions at all.
In the last six months the number of people claiming Jobseekers Allowance has fallen by 450 a 25% reduction of over 25%, this is to be welcomed not just because the numbers on a graph are going in the right direction but because it means there are hundreds more people in Bury who now have the security of a regular pay packet.
Since the last general election the number of young people aged 18 to 24 claiming Jobseekers Allowance in Bury North has also been cut – by over a half from 635 to 280.
David Nuttall 