Job vacancies down and unemployment up in Hertfordshire, councillors told

The number of job vacancies advertised in Hertfordshire at the end of May was 32 per cent lower than at the same time last year, councillors have been told.

The data – recorded by the Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) – was reported to a meeting of the county council’s cabinet, on Monday, July 13, as part of an update on the response to Covid-19.

Recruitment had increased – it was said – in sectors that included healthcare, warehouse operations and site cleaning.

But overall the unemployment rate in Hertfordshire, it was reported, rose from 3.5 per cent to 5.2 per cent in May.

That’s more than double the unemployment rate that was recorded in January.

And according to a report to the cabinet: “This is expected to rose further over the coming months as the government furlough measures develop.”

Meanwhile it was reported that by June 7, £185.5m in ‘small business grants’ had been distributed to 13,878 businesses in the county.