North Somerset enjoys one of the lowest rates of female unemployment in the country.
New figures have shown the rate of people claiming JobSeekers’ Allowance (JSA) fell across North Somerset during March, with 1,185 claimants, or one per cent of the working-age population.
Just 0.7 per cent of women claimed JSA in March.
James MacNaughton, a manager at JobCentre Plus, said the figures reflected a wider trend across the South West – but came as a surprise.
He said: “It shows we have just got more even-handed employers in the South West, we do try to help different cohorts of our claimants.
“That is normally among the 18 to 24-year-olds or people aged 50 and over, and people with barriers to work like disability or a criminal past, but there hasn’t been anything targeted specifically at females.”
More generally, the number of people unemployed and claiming benefit in North Somerset has fallen 11 per cent in the past 12 months, with notable successes seen among younger claimants; claim counts have fallen 17 per cent in that time among people aged 18-24.
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