Although latest unemployment figures for July show a small increase, they are still the month’s lowest for seven years.
This month’s figure of 790 is 22 up on the figures for May and June which both stood at 768.
As usual the highest number of vacancies was in the construction industry with 94 people looking for work, 16 fewer than in July last year. In manufacturing, 20 people were looking for work compared with 39 in July 2014 and in retail distribution 57 were out of work compared with 90 in July 2014. Vacancies stood at 450.
Chief Minister Allan Bell has stressed July generally shows a seasonal increase as university students return to the island for the summer break and the figure is 144 lower than for July 2014.
‘It’s good news pointing to the underlying strength of the economy,’ he said.