Latest unemployment and Jobcentre vacancy figures released

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 May is 4,953. This is a decrease of 88 on the previous month.


• West Lothian's unemployment rate of 4.6% is higher than both the Scottish (4.2%) and Great Britain (3.9%) rates. West Lothian's unemployment rate ranks joint 10th highest with South Lanarkshire.


• Youth unemployment (18-24 year olds) in West Lothian for May is 1,545. This is a decrease of 20 on the last month.


• There were 711 notified Jobcentre vacancies in May - a net decrease of 7 from April 2010.


• The ratio of jobseekers to jobcentre vacancies stands at 7 jobseekers for every vacancy advertised in West Lothian jobcentres. In comparison, Scotland's ratio is 5.0:1, Great Britain is 3.8:1 with North Ayrshire having the highest ratio of 12.2:1 (12 jobseekers for every vacancy) of claimants to vacancies of Scottish local authorities.

Skills Development Scotland has refreshed its website

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) has freshened up its website.

The site, which has a new look and feel, makes it easier to see exactly what help is available whether you are an individual, an employer or a learning provider.

The majority of the changes are content related - there are new areas like Knowledge, which is a comprehensive database of labour market information - and all of the key information on SDS services have been brought into one place.

Links to useful tools are also included and the simplified navigation makes it much easier to use the site.

Websites for Learn Direct Scotland, Careers Scotland and ILA Scotland will continue to operate as normal for the time being.

Skills Development Scotland is the new national skills body for Scotland delivering:
Careers Scotland, Get Ready for Work, ILA Scotland, learndirect scotland,
learndirect scotland for business, Modern Apprenticeships, Skillseekers, The Big Plus
and Training for Work.

Welfare to Work - news round from Indus Delta

• Welfare reform bill will create a single welfare-to-work programme and make benefit payments more conditional on willingness to accept work. Read more.
• Pathways to Work is "poor value for money" finds NAO report. An NAO report has branded the Pathways to Work programme as having "limited impact". Read more.
• The UK Government has outlined proposals for radical welfare reform. Read more.
• Reducing the deficit means that no further bids to the Future Jobs Fund (FJF) will be approved. This includes bids that are currently waiting for approval. Read more

UPCOMING EVENTS - Welfare to Work UK Convention, 1-2 July 2010, Liverpool. The 2010 UK Welfare to Work Convention is the largest annual gathering of the welfare-to-work industry - and for all those involved in support and advice to people who are out of work. Follow this link for more details.

£30 million to improve skills

News story describes plans for 30,000 people in Scotland to benefit from work or training opportunities.


http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2010/05/10114059

5,000 new modern apprenticeships

News story describes plans for 5000 new modern apprenticeships.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2010/06/10120939

Latest unemployment and Jobcentre vacancy figures released

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 April is 5,041. This is a decrease of 145 on the previous month.
• West Lothian's unemployment rate of 4.7% is higher than both the Scottish (4.3%) and Great Britain (4.1%) rates. West Lothian's unemployment rate ranks 11th highest.
• Youth unemployment (18-24 year olds) in West Lothian for January is 1,565. This is an decrease of 80 on the last month.
• There were 718 notified Jobcentre vacancies in April - a net decrease of 75 from March 2010.
• The ratio of jobseekers to jobcentre vacancies stands at 7 jobseekers for every vacancy advertised in West Lothian jobcentres. In comparison, Scotland's ratio is 6.1:1, Great Britain is 5.1:1 with North Ayrshire having the highest ratio of 18.6:1 (19 jobseekers for every vacancy) of claimants to vacancies of Scottish local authorities.