SWINDON'S jobcentre is enjoying a "buoyant" time with hundreds of job vacancies and people looking to fill them.

Demand is high for jobs in nursing and health care, logistics and warehouse work, and accounts and finance but jobs in manufacturing and customer service are becoming harder to find.

Swindon Jobcentre team leader Julie Marshall talked about the options available for people out of work and how her team support those who are struggling to find employment.

She said: "At the moment, we are receiving a lot of questions around careers advice and apprenticeships from those new to the labour market.

"We have a find-a-job service where you can look online at the variety of apprenticeships available.

"There are 37 apprenticeship opportunities live and 629 job vacancies so things are pretty good right now, it's very buoyant.

"At this time of year, we meet people looking for general careers advice so we work with a lot of partner agencies who can help people find the work they want."

Around 3,564 people claimed benefits in Swindon from May 2018 to 2019, with 563 of them aged 18 to 24.

Compared to the previous year, this is up by four per cent overall (122 people) and three per cent in 18-to-24-year-olds (19 people).

However, compared to five years ago, the figure is down by 32 per cent overall (1,709 people) and 47 per cent for young jobseekers (493 people).

Nationally, employment of women is at a record high, wages have surpassed inflation for the 16th month in a row and a record number of 32.7 million people are in work around the country.

The Jobcentre is hosting events organised by employers in the town to help companies meet Swindonians who would like to join their team.

The De Vere Hotel will be interviewing for a range of hospitality staff roles, Angels Care Home are looking for care and support workers, and Bobbington Group will host a group information session for people working in the security industry.

For more information, visit the jobcentre on Princes Street, call 0800 169 0190 or visit gov.uk/browse/working/finding-job