Claimant count falls for second time

Dr Brian Sloan, Chief Economist at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce

The number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance in Greater Manchester has fallen, confirming the positive trends seen in the Chamber's last Quarterly Economic Survey.

Last month 85,810 people claimed the benefit compared with 87,235 the month before. This is the second consecutive month that the claimant count has fallen.

Dr Brian Sloan, Chief Economist at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said: “Today’s fall of 1,425 in the claimant count across Greater Manchester is encouraging news and reinforces our view that the region is experiencing growth at present.

“Our last Quarterly Economic Survey told us that firms in Greater Manchester were becoming more confident in their outlook and looking to recruit in the months ahead, and this is evidence that this is reaching fruition.

“These figures reflect real positive sentiment from business that must be supported and digging into the detail of the Office of National Statistics’ release we also see that the number of people in work across the North West is starting to increase again. There was a slight increase in unemployment, though it must be recognised that the total number was largely due to more people becoming economically active.

“The positive increases in employment nationally and falls in the number of unemployed should also ease concerns about the recent GDP figures and though challenges remain we must not be unduly pessimistic and speculate unnecessarily as business confidence needs to be nurtured.”