Unemployment at six year low

In March last year 2,100 people were claiming the benefit, compared to just 1,413 a month ago which is a drop of 32.7% and the lowest number recorded since August 2008.

There’s also been a drop of almost half in the number of those aged between 18 and 24 who are claiming, which is now just 295 instead of 465 as it was this time last year. This figure is the lowest it’s been since July 2008.

The number of people employed in professional occupations in the Vale has risen from 17,100 to 19,800 in just over a year, which is an increase of 15.7%.

Across Bucks as a whole, claimants aged between 18 to 24 has fallen by 600 to 900, which is the lowest level since before the start of the recession and well below the average of 1,571.

There were 5,036 jobs advertised across the county in March, with professional occupations accounting for almost a third of vacancies and associate professionals accounting for 22.1%.

The most common roles advertised were in nursing, with 184 openings in March, along with programmers and software development professionals, IT business analysts, business sales executives and primary and nursery teacher positions.