Latest unemployment and Jobcentre vacancy figures released

The latest unemployment and Jobcentre vacancy figures have been published for West Lothian (Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) based figures).

• The number of JSA jobless in West Lothian for July is 4,578. This is an increase of only 5 on the June 2009 figure.
• West Lothian's unemployment rate of 4.3% is higher than both the Scottish (4.1%) and Great Britain (4.1%) rates. West Lothian's unemployment rate is the same as South Lanarkshire.
• There were 776 notified Jobcentre vacancies in July - a net decrease from June 2009 of 70 vacancies.
• There has been a slight increase in the ratio of jobseekers to jobcentre vacancies this month, with approximately 6 jobseekers for every vacancy advertised in West Lothian jobcentres. In comparison, Scotland's ratio is 6.0:1, Great Britain is 5.7:1 with North Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire jointly having the highest ratio of 12.9:1 (13 jobseekers for every vacancy) of claimants to vacancies of Scottish local authorities.