Norfolk hope on the jobs front?

Data released last week showed a small regional decrease in the number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance. Was it a blip or the start of something more long-term? Deputy business editor ADAM AIKEN reports.

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Trying to pinpoint long-term trends from short-term data is a mug's game.

But after months of gloomy figures about rising unemployment, regional data released last week gave a hint that there might - just might - be some brighter news on the horizon.

The number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire fell by 936 in the four weeks to May 14.

Growing demand from seasonal industries - chiefly tourism - was thought to be behind the dip in benefits claimants in East Anglia, but there are hopes that following months of depressing figures, this could be the start of a more welcome trend.

Mark Fletcher, business manager at Cooper Lomaz Recruitment, which has offices across East Anglia, said the figures reflected a trend his agency had recently noted.

“Broadly speaking, we've seen a decrease in the number of jobs we are working on compared with the same time last year, and we were particularly badly affected from January through to about April, but what we've seen coming out of April and since then is much healthier in terms of numbers of jobs.

“We are seeing encouraging signs and we are cautiously optimistic, and we do feel there's some confidence returning.

“We are certainly seeing more permanent jobs being registered again. That is something we haven't seen for a couple of months in Norwich, so that's been an interesting development,” he said.

“That is an encouraging sign of increased confidence. What we had been seeing was a reasonably healthy temporary and contract business with employers saying, 'We know we need someone. We're not sure we're going to be able to afford them as a permanent member of staff but we'll take them on for three months or six months and see how the land lies.'

“What we've seen certainly in June is an increasing number of permanent jobs being registered with us, and at reasonable salary levels as well, which is a positive sign of confidence.”

Mr Fletcher said there had been an increase in optimism across the recruitment landscape but the finance, IT and marketing landscapes had been particularly upbeat, and there had also been increased activity in engineering.

“Where we are still not seeing the volume we were seeing a year ago is with the lower-salaried roles such as admin, customer service and PAs - those kinds of people,” said Mr Fletcher.

“But they might be a reflection of the fact they may be able to recruit those roles directly because there's such a surfeit of candidates on the market. Businesses might feel they can approach people directly.”

None of this optimism should mask the fact that many people who remain out of work are finding things very tough.

Despite the encouraging signs, a CBI report out yesterday said most firms were continuing to freeze recruitment and pay as part of their responses to the recession.

A survey of 700 firms showed that more flexible working hours, extended shut-downs, extra holiday and cuts in paid overtime have become more commonplace as the recession has deepened, forcing businesses to cut costs.

And a quarter of organisations said they planned to transfer work overseas in response to the UK's downturn, especially in the science, hi-tech and computer sectors, partly because of skills shortages.

John Cridland, the CBI's deputy director general, said: “This has been a particularly bruising recession, but one of its most positive and striking aspects has been the commitment of many businesses and their staff to work together to try to trim costs and save jobs.

“The UK's flexible labour market has proved a huge asset during these testing times, and flexible working changes have enabled employers and staff to create leeway on working hours.”

That flexibility by staff and employers might help safeguard some existing jobs, but it is hardly conducive to finding employment for those people who are currently out of work.

Despite the fall in east of England claimant figures announced last week, the number of jobseeker's allowance claimants across the region - as elsewhere in the country - is substantially higher than a year ago. As a result, the number of applicants for many posts has increased dramatically.

Engineering and admin businesses as well as the public sector have been inundated with responses after posting advertisements for roles.

Gary Hewitt, head of support at NWES, said the business support organisation had received about 400 applications for three administrative posts in Norwich, Yarmouth and Ipswich - about four times the usual level. One of the roles was part-time and another was to cover maternity leave.

“We were completely caught out by the response,” said Mr Hewitt.

“A lot of people seem to be jumping industries. There were a lot of applications from people in retail and manufacturing, working in shops and factories, rather than the traditional service industries we usually get applications from. Unfortunately, so many applicants were not really reading the criteria and the calibre wasn't that high.”

However, it is not all doom and gloom. The Jobcentre Plus service says it has about 2,000 jobs on offer in the Norwich area, and it has helped 760 people find jobs over the past month.

Another report out yesterday, this time published by the TUC, found that as well as unemployment having increased faster during this recession than during the previous two economic slumps, it has also reopened a regional employment divide.

The study found that although the roots of the recession lie in the City of London, unemployment has increased faster in other regions. In the North-East, for example, the claimant count has gone up from 3.9pc of the workforce to 6.4pc.

And while a north-south divide is not a positive step forward in itself, it does at least raise the spectre that the recovery could happen region by region rather than across the country simultaneously - and that could mean that the tentative signs of improvement seen in the eastern region's job market recently might just be the start of a brighter period.

The east of England has traditionally been one of the UK regions last into and last out of recessions. It would be foolish to make sweeping predictions based on one set of data, but the tens of thousands of people in East Anglia who are looking for work will be hoping that we are once again at the tipping point.

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