The number of people claiming jobless benefits in the Harrogate district fell by almost 300 in October, the largest drop since the pandemic began in March.
A total of 3,595 people in the district claimed out-of-work benefits in October, down from 3,875 in September.
The figures, which were published today by the Office for National Statistics, reveal 3.8% of the district’s population claimed out-of-work benefits — down from 4.1% in the previous month.
Harrogate is below the UK-wide figure of 6.3% for people claiming the benefits, which include Jobseeker’s Allowance and Universal Credit.
The number of UK benefits claims fell from 2.7 million in September to 2.6 million last month.
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The government has now extended the furlough scheme until the end of March, and today’s figures suggest it has helped Harrogate safeguard jobs during the pandemic.
The scheme sees the government pay for 80% of employee salaries up to £2,500 a month. Employers cover pension and national insurance contributions.
However, a Harrogate employment lawyer told the Stray Ferret last month he was aware of cases where firms had put restructure plans in place for October 31 and shed staff then, shortly before the Prime Minister announced another lockdown and an extension to furlough.
