Increase in people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in Corby

Figures released today show that there are now 741 claiming the benefit, widely thought to be a result of the huge redundancies at Fairline Boats in recent times.

There has, however, been a small decrease in those aged 18-25 claiming the allowance, and those in long term unemployment in the town.

Corby also beats the national average employment rate of 74 per cent - a record high - coming in at 76.4 per cent.

Wellingborough, Kettering and Rushden have all seen encouraging drops in those claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance.

In Kettering there at 840 claimants (down by four per cent), in Wellingborough there are 746 claimants (down by six per cent), and in Rushden there were 300 claimants (down by 14 per cent).

All three also beat the national employment rate, with Wellingborough (80.6 per cent) beating Kettering and Rushden, 77.5 per cent and 80.5 per cent respectively.

A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: “The increase in those claiming allowances in Corby is almost certainly down the redundancies at Fairline but the rest of the statistics are encouraging.

“There are a lot of events going on in the near future, and last week there was a jobs fair to fill jobs at the new Corby Ikea distribution centre.

“There will be an open day at the Corn Market Hall on February 17 to try to fill more than 200 jobs for the new DHL site at Islip.

“In Wellingborough and Rushden we are running training programmes with the guarantee of an interview and we are working quicker than ever to match people to jobs as soon as we can.”