THE latest job figures for York once again paint an encouraging picture. Unemployment is at its lowest level for at least eight years. Just 1.2 per cent of York people eligible to claim Jobseeker’s Allowance now do so - half the national average.

The figures prompted council leader James Alexander to claim York had succeeded in its target of bringing unemployment down to pre-recession levels. “We are there,” he said. He acknowledged, however, that there is still a real problem of poverty amongst those actually in work. We agree.

It is a year since the city council launched it’s ‘poverty-free York’ campaign. The Press’s own ‘Stamp Out Poverty’ campaign has been running even longer. Yet while unemployment is down, too many people in York are still in part-time, low-paid work.

While they may not be unemployed, such people - typically working in hospitality or tourism - nevertheless struggle to pay their rent, their bills, even the costs of childcare. In other sectors, the wages even of full-time staff have not kept up with inflation. No wonder York CAB says the demand for debt advice has soared over the last year.

The reality is that, thanks to low wages and the high cost of living, many York people have yet to see the benefits of economic recovery. And if that is true here, it is certainly true elsewhere. Neither local nor national governments should forget that.