Last week the Independent Office for National Statistics published figures showing that the number of people claiming unemployment related benefits in South West Bedfordshire fell by 560 in the year to December 2022. There are 1,745 claimants which is 2.4% of the population age 16 to 64, which is much lower than the UK claimant rate of 3.7%.
In reaction to these figures, Andrew Selous, MP, said
“I would like to thank all the staff at Jobcentre Plus for the hard work they have done to help so many of my constituents find work. I’m very conscious that wages are not going as far as people need, which is why we must get inflation down. It is brilliant though that our local employers have been able to go on employing people despite the energy price crisis caused by Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.”