UNEMPLOYMENT has fallen in York and North Yorkshire, according to the latest figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

In November the total number of people out of work in York fell to 2,968 compared to 3,067 the previous month, while in North Yorkshire the figures were 8,516 and 8,564 for the same period.

Meanwhile, in East Yorkshire the number of people claiming benefits in November rose slightly from 6,669 to 6,702 and in Ryedale the figures were also up from 622 to 641 with Selby now having 1,303 people out of work compared with 1,370 the previous month.

Across the region Yorkshire and the Humber has seen employment rise by 48,000 to 2,503,000 people, with the rate rising by 1.3 per cent to 70.6 per cent. The number of people who are unemployed has fallen by 29,000 to 243,000 people, and the rate has dropped by 1.1 per cent to 8.8 per cent.

York Outer MP, Julian Sturdy, said: “This is great news for Yorkshire and the Humber. With more people in work and unemployment falling, things are going in the right direction.”

The ONS said the region’s unemployment rate saw a fall of 10.7 per cent from August to October – the largest fall in the country.

Nationwide, a record number of people are in work after the biggest quarterly fall in unemployment for over a decade.

The jobless total fell by 82,000 in the three months to October, to 2.51 million, down by 128,000 on a year ago. The ONS said it was the biggest quarterly fall since the Spring of 2001.