Dole queues shrunk by a third in a swathe of east London as the economic recovery gained steam in the past year, official figures reveal today.
Experts say the fall, far more than in other parts of the capital, was partly down to growing tech industries in east London which are becoming a “magnet” for young workers.
The number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance fell by 36.3 per cent in Old Bexley and Sidcup, 32.4 per cent in Bexleyheath and Crayford, 32.5 per cent in Ilford North, 32 per cent in Dagenham and Rainham, 30.7 per cent in Hornchurch and Upminster, 30.4 per cent in Romford, 29 per cent in Barking, and 34.3 per cent in Croydon South.
The latest unemployment map shows a crescent-shaped chunk of the capital where the decrease was far more than the London average of 24.5 per cent in the year to February. Gerwyn Davies, of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, said: “The fortunes of the city are becoming less imbalanced with more investment in east London, particularly in the hi-tech and other new industries.
“It’s almost become a magnet for young people in particular.”
Across London, the youth claimant count, people aged 18-24, was down 29.4 per cent to 33,200, and for claims for more than a year 17.9 per cent.
