UNEMPLOYMENT in Southampton remains substantially lower than last year despite a national rise in joblessness.

The number of people claiming benefits because of unemployment in Southampton City Council area stood at 6,795 in November, down 20 per cent on 2021.

Among 18-24 year-olds, there were 1,175 unemployed claimants, down 13 per cent year-on-year.

There were 1,455 over-50s claiming benefits for unemployment, down by 20 per cent on last year.

Across the south east, there were 4.5million people employed, up 0.4 per cent on the previous quarter.

Unemployment in the region fell by 2.1 per cent compared with the previous quarter, at a time when unemployment nationally rose 1.9 per cent to 1.24m.

David McArthur, partnership manager for the Department for Work and Pensions, said: “Jobcentres have had an extremely busy year, working hard, directly with employers to fill their vacancies with the right person. We’ve supported jobseekers to develop their skills, while also helping people to progress in their career.

“In particular we have held jobs fairs for business such as Sainsbury’s, B&M, Compass, and Sector Based Work Academies for the Civil Service, NHS, and Cidori. “For the coming year plans are already in hand to ramp up activity as there are still thousands of vacancies available especially in the key industries, such as Hospitality & Catering, Healthcare & Nursing, and Teaching where we’re helping to recruit.

“The changes to Universal Credit and our 50PLUS offer means we can provide specialist help to even more claimants through intensive support, to help them get into work and seize opportunities to increase their job prospects and pay.

“Our DWP Find a Job website, signposts people to jobs, with thousands of jobs on offer.”

Southampton Jobcentre hosts a job fair today, Wednesday, December 14, 10am-1pm, with employers including Prime Care, Compass Medirest, Heathrow Aviation Academy, Prospero Teaching, Rapier Employment, Simple Recruitment services, Southampton City Council and Swanwick Lodge/Hampshire County Council.

The jobcentre has been working with Southampton General Hospital to recruit NHS Health Care Support Workers and .36 claimants recently attended an NHS group information session, with 34 receiving support to fast track their applications.