Latest unemployment and Jobcentre vacancy figures published

The latest unemployment and Jobcentre vacancy figures are out today for West Lothian (Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) based figures).

• The number of JSA jobless in West Lothian for June is 4,573 . This is an increase of 31 on the May 2009 figure .
• West Lothian's unemployment rate of 4.3% is higher than both the Scottish (4.0%) and Great Britain (4.1%) rates. West Lothian's unemployment rate is the same as South Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire.
• There were 8 46 notified Jobcentre vacancies in June - a net increase from May 2009 of 41 vacancies.
• There has been an improvement on last month, with approximately 5 jobseekers for every vacancy advertised in West Lothian jobcentres. In comparison, Scotland's ratio is 5.8:1, Great Britain is 5.9:1 with Clackmannanshire having the highest ratio of 14.7:1 (15 jobseekers for every vacancy) of claimants to vacancies of Scottish local authorities (see attached excel sheet).

JSA based unemployment figures do not provide the full picture. However, the headline JSA figure does help to indicate the latest trend or change at a national or local level and whether the economic down turn is beginning to bite. The Government's favoured method of measuring unemployment - the ILO method does not readily translate into up-to-date local area estimates.The Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) is payable to people under pensionable age who are available for, and actively seeking, work.