THE number of young people, aged 18 to 24, claiming unemployment benefits in Waverley borough has dropped to just 45 according to the latest government figures.

This marks a huge drop of 44 per cent on last year, with 35 less youngsters claiming Job Seekers Allowance or Universal Credit out-of-work payments in August than 12 months previous.

For all age groups, the number of claimants has also fallen by 11 per cent year-on-year, with 365 people claiming unemployment benefits in the borough last month.

Hazel Prior, an employment advisor at the Jobcentre in Aldershot, said: “These brilliant figures go to show that young people in the area are obviously very switched on.

“There are many good colleges in Waverley as well as the University for the Creative Arts, and young people are clearly coming out of the schools more primed to seek work.

“The number of job seekers in the borough is so low now, that people are coming in to register for benefits and within a few weeks they’re managing to find jobs for themselves.

“We’re then just left with the people who have got more barriers to overcome, so we’re trying to address that and work with the more harder-to-help people to get a step nearer to employment.”

The Jobcentre in Aldershot is running various free training courses and programmes to help clients find work, and the number of job vacancies is on the rise with employers now starting to put plans in place for their Christmas recruitment.

These include Southern Co-op which is currently recruiting for its stores in Rowledge, Wrecclesham, Crookham and Liphook.

To find out more, call Hazel Prior at the Aldershot Jobcentre on 01252 356511.