A REPRESENTATIVE for the Department for Work and Pensions says he is confident the latest unemployment figures demonstrate an ongoing improvement for the borough, although union leaders have expressed concern over the quality of employment people are getting.

The number of people in St Helens claiming out of work benefits has dropped to less than 3,000 for the first time in nine years as unemployment figures continue to fall.

The statistics show that in October 2,937 people, 2.7 per cent of the borough’s working age population, were in receipt of jobseekers’ allowance. This represents a 35 per cent decrease on the same time last year.

It is the eighth consecutive month the figure for the borough has gone down, reflecting similar improvements across Merseyside.

For young people, aged 18 to 24, the number is 615.

Alan Harrison, of Merseyside Job centre Plus, said: “What I think is clear going through these figures is that the continuing economic recovery is showing. I’m not going to say that all people who have come off jobseekers’ allowance have gone into work but some of them will have and St Helens always does well with apprenticeships.”

The TUC stresses that the bigger picture beneath the figures needs to be examined.

Lynn Collins, North West TUC Regional Secretary, said: “It’s good to see unemployment falling and people getting back into work. Yet the test we must apply is not how far has unemployment fallen, but what are the jobs like that people are going into.

“We’ve seen for too long that the majority of jobs being created are low pay with low hours. We need good quality employment, the creation of full time jobs that pay people a decent rate which allows them to get by.”