THE number of people in Devon claiming Job Seekers Allowance has continued to fall, on the back of last month’s decrease.

JSA claimants in Devon dropped by a further 10% or 652 people, between March and April 2014.

This means the JSA claimant rate in Devon now stands at 1.3% of the working age population – less than half the UK figure of 2.8% – and is falling much faster than nationally.

The last time JSA claimant numbers were this low was during the summer of 2008 before the recession.

Over the last 12 months, from April 2013 to April 2014, the number of JSA claimants in Devon has fallen by 34%, or 3,006, claimants.

East Devon, Mid Devon and North Devon have registered decreases of 10.4%, 10.5% and 10.5 % respectively.