The latest unemployment and Jobcentre vacancy figures are out today for West Lothian (Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) based figures). The latest JSA unemployment figures show a modest increase between September and October. Typically, we would expect a decrease in unemployment in the late Autumn period due to seasonal recruitment. West Lothian's rate of unemployment has been higher than both Scotland and Great Britain's in the last year and this gap has risen slowly in the last quarter.
- The number of JSA jobless in West Lothian for October is 4,736. This is an increase of 85 on the September 2009 figure.
- West Lothian's unemployment rate of 4.4% is higher than both the Scottish (4.0%) and Great Britain (4.1%) rates. West Lothian's unemployment rate ranks joint 9th highest with Fife and Renfrewshire out of all Scottish local authority areas, up from last month's joint 10th highest with Falkirk, Fife and Renfrewshire.
- Youth unemployment (18-24 year olds) in West Lothian for October is 1,495. This is a rise of 30 on the last month.
- There were 950 notified Jobcentre vacancies in October - a net increase from September 2009 of 76 vacancies.
- The ratio of jobseekers to jobcentre vacancies has remained steady at approximately 5 jobseekers for every vacancy advertised in West Lothian jobcentres. In comparison, Scotland's ratio is 4.9:1, Great Britain is 4.4:1 with West Dunbartonshire having the highest ratio of 11.9:1 (12 jobseekers for every vacancy) of claimants to vacancies of Scottish local authorities.
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.
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