Slight fall in number of dole claimants in Hampshire

The latest data from the Office for National Statistics showed that across the Southampton and wider Hampshire County Council region, all districts recorded drops in the claimant count, apart from a slight increase in Test Valley.

The claimant count continued to rise in the Isle of Wight.

There was more bad news for the jobs market last night as the Co-Operative Travel Store announced that its branch in Eastleigh would be one of the 200 it is shutting over the next two years.

The closures across the UK will see more than 600 people lose their jobs as it was revealed that the travel firm reported a £398m loss for the year to the end of September.

The world’s oldest travel agency has been looking to cut its debts to restore the confidence of investors.

Speaking about the Hampshire jobless figures, employment minister Chris Grayling told the Daily Echo: “These are small signs of stabilisation, and I am not going any further than that.”

Last month’s announcements on a new youth jobs fund and an expansion of the work experience scheme were not a “knee-jerk reaction”, he insisted.

Southampton Test MP Alan Whitehead highlighted an increase in the number of over-50s in his constituency who had been out of work for a long period of time – the second sharpest increase in the country.

He said: “Young people are finding it tough to find work because they may have less experience, while over-50s may conversely find they have too much.”

He called on the Government to reverse some of the spending cuts and tax increases it has put in place to reduce the deficit, accusing it of “choking off growth”.

His words came as Labour staged a debate in the House of Commons to attack the Government over unemployment.

Across the country, official figures showed unemployment at a 17-year high after another 128,000 joined the jobless ranks, taking the total to 2.64m.