Youth unemployment has fallen by 55% - Farron

Local MP Tim Farron has hailed the news that youth unemployment in South Lakeland has fallen by 55.4% in the last year. Tim says that these figures show that our campaigns on jobs, investment and apprenticeships are working.

The figures were released by Cumbria Statistical Observatory as part of their Labour Market statistics. They show there were just 70 Youth JSA claimants in South Lakeland in February 2015, a 55% fall from last February, and an unemployment rate of just 0.8%.

In the Kendal travel to work area, the fall was even higher at 60%.

Long term unemployment for young people, according to the figures, seems to be virtually non-existent in South Lakeland with only 15 young people claiming JSA for over 6 months, down by 20 on the previous year.

Tim said: "Creating jobs and securing investment are key issues for me and seeing a drop between 55 to 60 percent in youth unemployment is great news for our area. It really does show that our work and our campaigning on things like apprenticeships is having a real payoff.

"I also want to pay tribute to local businesses, our schools and Kendal College who keep working hard and supporting young people. Together we are giving them the skills and chances that young people deserve. These wonderful figures would not have happened without businesses and I want to pay massive tribute to them."