Unemployment is 74 lower than a year ago - Farron

South Lakes MP Tim Farron has welcomed figures, released last week, that show unemployment in Westmorland & Lonsdale is 74 lower than June 2014.

The total number of unemployed claimants in Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency in June 2015 was 209.This represents a rate of 0.5% of the economically active population aged 16 to 64, the 646th highest of the 650 UK constituencies. (1st = highest claimant rate, 650th = lowest claimant rate.)

This includes 154 people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance and 55 people who were claiming Universal Credit but were not in employment (provisional estimate; rounded to the nearest ten). Some of these Universal Credit claimants may no longer be seeking work.

The total number of claimants (both Jobseeker's Allowance and Universal Credit) is 74 lower than in June 2014 and 7 lower than in May 2015. This data is not seasonally adjusted.

Tim said: "These figures show that unemployment compared to last year is again down, which is welcome news but our issue in the Lakes is less about employment and more about pay.

"This is why I am so supportive of the Living Wage. I will keep urging the public sector to take the lead within the county and introduce the wage for their staff.

"I think that the figures do show that our campaigns on jobs, investment and apprenticeships is paying off and I want to pay tribute to local businesses who are working so hard to boost our economy."