Fall in Hartlepool jobless claimant count

There were 3,980 people claiming out-of-work benefits in the town in June, a fall of 90 on June.

But the roll-out of Universal Credit saw the claimant count rise by 685 year-on-year.

The Easington claimant count rose by just 20 month-on-month, to 2,660, but was up by 895 over the year as a result of the introduction of Universal Credit. In Sedgefield, the count was 1,565, a rise of just five on June and 265 year-on-year, while there were 2,185 claimants in Stockton North, a fall of 20 over the month and 100 since last year.

Christina Blaney, from Hartlepool Jobcentre, said: “It is important, at this time of year, that we give school-leavers the support they need.

“We have an event in the JobCentre at which we will have 16 partners and further education providers, between 10am and 11am on October 3.

“And between 11am and 2.30pm on October 6, we have an event in Middleton Grange for young people and parents, encouraging them to look at further career options.”

Across the North East, employment fell by 28,000 over the year.

But with more people classed as economically inactive, unemployment was also down to 54,000, a fall of 24,000 over the year.

North East England Chamber of Commerce policy adviser Paul Carbert said: “Unfortunately for the second quarter in a row, the number of people in employment has fallen and the employment rate has fallen below the record high at the beginning of the year.”