Mayor Welcomes Continuing Fall in Borough Unemployment

New figures from the Office for National Statistics have revealed the extent of the continuing fall in unemployment in Bedford Borough. The number of people claiming Job Seeker's allowance has fallen by 46% - more than 2,000 people - since February last year. Meanwhile, the age group with the highest proportion of claimants, 18 -24 year-olds, saw a particularly high month-to-month fall between September and October, with the numbers dropping by 16%. This is considerably faster than the regional reduction.

Commenting, Mayor Dave Hodgson said: "This is more very encouraging news, with the unemployment figures for Bedford Borough continuing to fall month after month. We know that there is still more to be done locally to put the Borough in the best possible position to continue and even accelerate this trend, and we will keep fighting for the investment, further infrastructure developments and other improvements we want to see."