YORK has some of the highest levels of part-time work in the country as the number of people in full-time jobs falls to a near ten-year low.

Latest figures show that 66 per cent of working people in York are in full-time employment, while 34 per cent work part time.

The part time figure puts York in the top ten local authorities in the country for having the highest proportion of part time workers.

Out of the 325 district and unitary authorities in England, York has the ninth highest percentage of people employed part time, beaten only by Derbyshire Dales, Chiltern, Rother, Canterbury, Chichester, West Devon, Christchurch, and Mendip.

The data, produced by the Office for National Statistics, shows that in 2013, 69,000 people in York of working age had full time jobs.

The figure is the lowest since 2004, when it stood at 66,800, and a drop of 4,500 from 2012.

The news follows reports last week that unemployment figures in York have dropped to pre-recession levels with 1,790 jobseeker's allowance (JSA) claimants in May.

The number of claimants is 141 less than in April, and 973 less than May 2013, resulting in a year on year decrease of 35.2 per cent.

The claimant count represents 1.3 per cent of the working population, falling lower than the regional average which stands at 3.4 per cent and the national average of 2.6 per cent.

Cllr James Alexander, leader of City of York Council, said: “While the picture is hugely encouraging with regard to the continued reduction in the number of people in York claiming JSA, we are not complacent around issues such as in-work poverty continuing to exist here in York, and a contributing factor to this being the rise in part-time employment.

“We are working hard with partners to create a place businesses want to thrive and grow and new businesses want to relocate and invest so that there are good quality employment opportunities.

"Part of this work is monitoring and matching the opportunities available to York’s current and future workforce.”

York's high levels of part time jobs have in part been attributed to the city's large tourism and hospitality industry.

Kay Hyde, head of PR and corporate communications at Visit York, said: "Tourism and hospitality, by its nature, does tend to offer more opportunities in part-time work than other sectors and this is likely to be a contributing factor to York being in the top ten cities for part-time vacancies.

"We also know there is a demand for part-time as well as full-time employment.

"However, we are committed to working with the City of York Council on increasing the number of full-time opportunities across the tourism sector and recent business investment is already contributing to this, for example the new John Lewis and Vangarde shopping development."