Member Article

South East maintains highest employment rate in UK

South East has the highest employment rate in the country at 76.5%, while the number of people receiving jobseekers allowances remains low, according to a report from ONS.

Employment rates remain higher in the South East at 76.5%, East of England at 76.3% and South West at 75.9% than the rest of the UK, for the period October to December 2014.

The largest decrease in the employment rate estimate was for Northern Ireland, at 0.7 percentage points, followed by London, at 0.5 percentage points.

Unemployment in the South East remained the second lowest in the country, at 4.6%, following the South West at 4.5% and following by the East Midlands, at 4.9%.

The South East and South West maintained low rates of people receiving job seekers allowance, both at 1.4%. The next lowest rates were seen in the East of England, at 1.7% and London, at 2.3%.

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said: “The jobs-led recovery is changing people’s lives for the better on a daily basis.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .