UNEMPLOYMENT has fallen by 88,000 while the number of people in work has risen by a similar number, according to official figures.
The Office for National Statistics said the quarterly fall was the biggest in more than a decade, taking the jobless total to 2.43m.
However, the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance jumped by 19,600 last month to 1.49m, the worst level for more than a year.
The claimant count fell in local constituencies during May. The total for Huddersfield fell by 26 to 3,580 with Colne Valley down by 50 at 2,451 and Dewsbury 22 lower at 2,491.
Unemployment in Yorkshire fell by about 8,000 to stand at about 237,000 or 9% of the workforce.
National figures showed the number of people rated as economically inactive rose by 39,000 in the three months to April to reach 9.37m or more than a fifth of the working age population.
Government hopes that private firms will create jobs as posts are cut in the public sector were boosted by figures showing that employment in the private sector rose by 104,000 in the first three months of the year to 23m.
At the same time, public sector employment fell by 24,000 to 6.1m. The decline would have been bigger but for the 15,000 temporary jobs created to deal with the Census.
