UNEMPLOYMENT figures continue to plummet in Swindon with fewer people claiming Job Seeker’s Allowance (JSA), according to the latest figures released by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP).

While calculating precisely how many people are in employment can be difficult, the number of JSA claimants give a good indication as to how many are unemployed, and these figures have dropped by more than 1,400 year-on-year in the town.

Jill Annal, partnership manager for the DWP Swindon, said: “In terms of employment rates for Swindon in particular it’s difficult to know for certain because the data isn’t broken down that far.

“But what I can say is while there were 3,495 people claiming JSA in February 2014 there were 2,109 people claiming the benefit in February this year.

“That’s a decrease of 40 per cent.”

Jill puts the drop in the number of claimants down to businesses in the town more actively recruiting as they begin to recover following the economic downturn in recent years.

She said: “There’s been an emerging sense of buoyancy in the economy in recent years and there have been some major recruitment opportunities presented around the town with developing businesses, including the newly opened Regent Circus development.

“We’ve also begun to work closely with parcel handler firm TNT which will open a new plant in South Marston and they have been recruiting for staff there.”

The figures come after the Office of National Statistics released the latest data on the labour market yesterday, which revealed that at 4.5 per cent, the number of people unemployed in the south west is one of the lowest rates in the UK.

Employment Minister Esther McVey said: “This is a remarkable set of figures, which underlines this government’s success in backing businesses to create jobs, and supporting British people to seize those opportunities.

“The south west has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the UK at 4.5 per cent and now the region as a whole has a higher employment rate than Germany.

“More people are having their lives transformed by finding work and, through the security of a regular wage, the future is looking brighter not only for themselves but their families too.”

Nationally, the employment rate has now hit an all time record high in the UK, after growing faster than any major economy over the past year.

In the final set of official national statistics published in this Parliament, private sector employment and vacancies in the economy have also broken records – with 2.3m more people in private sector jobs than in 2010, and nearly three quarters of a million vacancies available at any one time.