However, the quarterly figures, released by the Committee for Employment & Social Security, show that, despite the year-on-year reduction, the number of jobseekers in Guernsey had increased during the final three months of 2017. It went up from 276 at the end of September to reach the year-end total of 305 in December.
Deputy Michelle Le Clerc, the ESS President, said that is disappointing but it continues to be addressed: “While it is always disappointing when unemployment increases during any three-month period, the numbers are still considerably down on the same period last year. That is to be welcomed”.
Breaking the statistics down, the average number of jobseekers during the final quarter of 2017 stood at 283. That is an increase of 11 compared to the average number between June and September, but a decrease of 84 when compared to the average number of jobseekers during Quarter 4 in 2016.
Other stats highlighted in the annual report show 32 people were enrolled on training schemes at the end of December, with 12 people having attended short courses run through the Job Centre during the fourth quarter (308 for the year):
Deputy Le Clerc says there continues to be support available for all jobseekers: “Jobs continue to be available across all sectors and the number of employers using the Job Centre to promote their vacancies continues to grow, with more than 704 roles advertised in the Job Centre during this period. This is an increase of 152 against the same period in 2016.
“Staff in our Job Centre will continue to work closely with employers as they seek to support both jobseekers and businesses” she added.