Crawley follows national trend after UK announces record-breaking employment

In figures released by the Office of National Statistics the UK reported a record high employment in December, with 74 per cent of people in work.

The proportion of working woman was also at a record high in the UK with 69 per cent in full time employment whilst the amount of young people not in full time education or in work also dropped to 14 per cent, a record low.

The news was just as positive for Crawley.

Figures for the town showed 870 people were out of work over the festive period.

The total is a five per cent fall on December 2014 with 50 more people in full time employment.

The number of people aged between 18 and 24 looking for work also fell between December 2014 and December 2015.

135 youngsters were claiming Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) in the town last month, a drop of around four per cent over the 12 month period.

Simon Hobday, of Jobcentre Plus in Horsham, said: “The news is very positive.

“As a whole we are still going the right way.”

The figures show a similar pattern across the county.

West Sussex saw a 23 per cent reduction in the amount of people out of work in December with 3840 JSA claimants. In December 2014 the total was 5022.

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