UNEMPLOYMENT has fallen three per cent in Bury.

Compared with last years figures employment is up in the town.

Last year there were 2,810 claimants, now that number is 2,725.

Unemployment nationally is at 4.7 per cent which is the lowest it’s been in 12 years.

Penny Applegate, partnership manager at Bolton Job Centre, said: "In Bury we have been working very hard with work experience we have lots of apprenticeships and traineeships."

Job fairs held in Bury in February and March were attended by 119 people.

In the North West 73.1 per cent of people are employed, which is a slight increase on last year.

The figures show a positive employment trend, up 0.7 per cent on the year and 0.8 per cent on the quarter.

Ms Applegate added: "There are a lot of job opportunities out there, people can get quite down but there are jobs and there is support to get into those jobs.

There’s lots of support like the Job Centre or the National Careers Service."

Bury North MP David Nuttall welcomed the drop in unemployment and said: "This is great news for our country and for local people, with the number of people in Bury North relying on the key out of work benefits down 37 per cent since 2010, and the unemployment rate nationwide at its lowest level since 2005.

"It shows that our on-going welfare reforms are working – continuing to incentivise work and making sure the system is fair to all those who need it and those who pay for it.

"New job opportunities continue to open up in the area.

"Only this week I was notified that over the next 24 months Vodafone will create around 800 new jobs at the company’s existing service centre on Atlas Business Park near Manchester airport."