Massive drop in unemployment in Hinckley and Bosworth welcomed

A local Councillor has welcomed a huge drop in unemployment in the local area.

Unemployment in the Bosworth constituency fell by almost half over the last year.

Cllr Michael Mullaney Liberal Democrat parliamentary spokesman for Hinckley and Bosworth said "There has been a huge drop in unemployment locally.

"According to official figures over the last year unemployment has fallen by nearly half. A year ago 1,465 people in the Bosworth constituency were on Job Seekers Allowance. Now just 770 people are on Job Seekers Allowance.

"Locally the economy has really got going again. We have thousands of new jobs coming to the Enterprise Zone at Mira on the A5 near Hinckley delivered by Lib Dems in government. And we have a 1,000 jobs coming to DPD the parcel delivery company in Sketchley Brook.

"On top of that we have one of the biggest increases in apprenticeships in Britain, helping young people train for work, and we have thriving local business groups, like the "Love Hinckley" group which has representatives from dozens of local businesses."

Cllr Mullaney continued "What is particularly heartening is that there has been a more than halving of youth unemployment locally. A year ago 420 young people between 18 and 24 were on Job Seekers allowance. Now just 205 are. All the evidence shows that being unemployed at a young age can blight people's career chances for life so I am pleased that many young people locally have been freed from the burden of unemployment.

"I am glad that Lib Dem policies in government, such as raising the Income Tax threshold to £10,000 so that nobody earning below that level pays any Income Tax at all, is making work pay.

"Times have been tough in recent years but here in Hinckley and Bosworth things are changing for the better, especially with the new Hinckley town centre development shops and cinema coming to the town next year."