The number of people claiming benefits has fallen so much in Plymouth there are now thousands of jobs that need filling - including for a drain un-blocker.
New figures from the Department for Work and Pensions show there are 7,049 people claiming Universal Credit in the city - but this is 31% lower than a year ago.
The stats, compiled in late 2021 but released today, also include 1,247 claimants aged between 18 and 24, which is 38% down from late 2020.
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But there are nearly 4,000 jobs being advertised in the city on one leading job search website, and Nicky Keast, partnership manager for Jobcentre Plus in Plymouth, said there are lots of vacancies in the care sector, in admin roles, from secretarial to finance, for delivery drivers, and working for Plymouth City Council and the NHS, including in the test and trace project. There are even jobs being advertised for mental health practitioners, working for Livewell and other organisations.
Mrs Keast said Jobcentre Plus had set up sector based work academies to fill roles in admin, the civil service, care, construction and security. And she said there were even jobs for young people sitting unfilled, including under the Government’s flagship Kickstart scheme.
The scheme for 16- to 24-year-olds, whereby six-month jobs are paid for by the Government, ends on March 1, and while 710 jobs have been advertised in Plymouth, some have never been filled.
Mrs Keast said the jobs have to be new roles, not something a firm would normally employ someone to do, and said: “We have had some really interesting jobs. Dartmoor Zoo has had a few Kickstart roles we have been able to fill.
“There have been others in sectors such as hospitality, housekeeping and accounts, but not not all Kickstart roles have been filled, including for scaffolders. We have a vacancy for a drain un-blocker we can’t fill. It’s a really good job, they just need to be able to drive.
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“But employers who have been able to get Kickstart positions in their organisations can then grow their business. It is supporting young people and businesses. The scheme is ending soon so we are doing a big push to get as many young people on it as possible.”
The employment position is improving across the South West and nationally, as the economy recovers from the Covid lockdowns. In the South West there are 108,397 benefits claimants, a 36% drop from late 2020, and the 16,432 that are aged under 25 is a 47% drop.
The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed there was no sign of a jobs hit from the Omicron variant of coronavirus sweeping the 海角视频, with a record rise in payrolled workers.
The number of workers on 海角视频 payrolls jumped by 184,000 month on month, or 0.6%, in December to 29.5million.
The ONS said the number of people employed is now 1.4%, or 409,000, above levels seen before Covid.
The figures also revealed that the unemployment rate for the three months to November fell back almost to where it was before Covid, to 4.1% from 4.2% in the previous quarter and close to the 4% level seen in the last pre-pandemic quarter.
Unemployment fell 128,000 to 1.38 million quarter-on-quarter in the three months to November, while employment lifted 60,000 to 32.5 million, the ONS said.
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However, lower unemployment is not yet causing wages to soar, and Britons have seen rises in their pay packets lag behind inflation for the first time in more than a year as the squeeze on 海角视频 households tightens.
Figures from theONS revealed that average wage growth, including bonuses, rose by 4.2% in the three months to November 2021.
But with inflation hitting an eye-watering 5.1% in November, this means that real wages failed to keep up with the rising cost of living for the first time since July 2020.
It comes as sky-high energy bill increases are adding to rising costs across the board and intensifies the pressure on the Government and the Bank of England to help ease the 海角视频’s mounting cost-of-living crisis.
Official data on Wednesday, January 19, is expected to show inflation edging higher still in December, to 5.2%, with experts warning falls in real wages will only get worse as the Consumer Prices Index is set to hit 6% by April.
The data laid bare the toll of recent soaring prices on household finances, with average weekly pay after inflation, excluding bonuses, falling 1% year-on-year in November and total pay down 0.9%.
Some economists believe the Bank of England will hike interest rates again as soon as early in February to rein in rampant inflation, hot on the heels of its December rise from 0.1% to 0.25%.
The buoyant jobs data has given the Bank further room to act, showing strength in the face of Omicron and the end of furlough last September, with the ONS revealing the redundancy rate fell to a record low in the three months to November.
How to contact William Telford and Business Live
Business Live's South West Business Reporter is William Telford. William has more than a decade's experience reporting on the business scene in Plymouth and the South West. He is based in Plymouth but covers the entire region.
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The number of vacancies also surged to a fresh high of 1.25million in the quarter to December – 128,000 more than the previous three months and 462,000 above the pre-Covid level as firms battled to secure workers.
The figures suggested staff shortages may finally be easing, however, with a slowdown in vacancies growth, falling from more than 180,000 in the previous three months.
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