KEIGHLEY'S jobless total has fallen slightly.

Last month the number of people in the Parliamentary constituency – which includes Ilkley – claiming unemployment benefits was 1,045, a drop of five from June.

The July figure was unchanged from a year ago.

In the Shipley constituency, there were ten fewer people claiming unemployment benefits last month compared to June, but the figure of 880 represented an increase from 875 in July last year.

Unemployment across the Bradford district has also fallen month-on-month.

In July, the number of claimants stood at 8,820, compared to 8,960 in June and 9,260 in July last year.

The claimant rate is 2.7 per cent, compared with 2.2 per cent in Yorkshire and the Humber and 1.9 per cent nationally.

Tracy Othen, of Jobcentre Plus, described the district-wide fall as “really positive”.

She said there had been a 56 per cent drop overall in the last five years and more people were going into full-time work.

“Our trend is following the national increase in employment," she added.

"In Bradford district more people are in employment, and that can only be a positive. Those jobs are out there for people. We’ve got employers coming to us with their jobs to promote."

She said the Jobcentre runs a number of initiatives to help get people into work, including one last month which focused on jobs within the NHS.