MORE than a quarter fewer people in Swindon are relying on Jobseekers’ Allowance compared to last year, figures released this week reveal.

Meanwhile things are also looking up for job seekers this autumn as retailers across the town begin filling hundreds of Christmas positions.

Figures released by the Department for Work and Pensions show during the month of August there were 2,015 people on JSA – a 26 per cent drop on the number of people claiming in August 2014 when there were 2,710 claimants.

Of these 2,015 just 498 were 18 to 24-year-olds, marking a 31 per cent drop on the same time for this age group on last year, when there were 720.

This is a drop of 57 per cent overall since 2010 and a 60 per cent drop in the 18 to 24 age group, when figures were at their highest during the peak of the recession.

Swindon partnerships manager for the Department of Work and Pensions Jill Annal, who is based in the Swindon Job Centre, welcomed the figures.

She said: “It is good news and at this time of the year the labour market is extremely buoyant. We’re working with a range of employers who are looking for Christmas employees.

“McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Swindon is holding a fashion career fair on September 24 from 3pm to 7pm and they have 100 vacancies to fill, a mixture of both full and part time vacancies.

“We are also working with Royal Mail who have got in excess of 900 Christmas vacancies to fill and then obviously there are all the major retailers such as Tesco, Morrisons and Boots who also have significant vacancies to fill before Christmas. Anyone who wants to earn money before Christmas has plenty of opportunities.”

The figures come as it was revealed the south west has the highest employment rate of any UK region at 76.8 per cent.

Private sector employment is also up by 220,000 since 2010, while in the past year 89,000 people have participated in apprenticeships in the south west with just under 46,000 people starting apprenticeships during 2013 to 2014.

Jill said: “In the south west in May 2015 there were 2.7 million people in paid employment, which is 100,000 up on the year.

“The number of people unemployed in July 2015 was 116,000, which was 17,000 down on the year, so that is really good news as well.”