Pembrokeshire has bucked the trend of rising unemployment in the UK and Wales. In December, for the fourteenth consecutive month, unemployment in Pembrokeshire recorded a year- on-year improvement. Pembrokeshire was also one of only three local authority areas in Wales to show an improvement. The jobless figure dropped by 222, contrasting with increases of 5,127 in Wales and 82,518 in the UK. The situation is also in contrast to that of two years ago. In December 2003, Pembrokeshire had the joint highest rate of unemployment in Wales. However, the latest figure of 1,673 people claiming benefit - an unemployment rate of 2.5 per cent - shows that the county has fallen to joint 10th. One of the reasons for this improvement is the reduced seasonal increase in December, which saw an extra 41 people signing on at the Pembrokeshire Job Centres. In 2003, the December increase was 156 and in 1999, it was over 300. John Allen-Mirehouse, deputy leader of Pembrokeshire County Council, said: "It is encouraging to see the continued fall in the number of unemployed people in the county. "Fewer people are looking for work and local people are getting better paid jobs."
