UNEMPLOYMENT across Cambridgeshire fell last month in all but one of the county s five districts. In Huntingdonshire, the number claiming Jobseeker s Allowance in November was 2,757, down from 2,793 in October. The numbers in Cambridge city, South Cambrid

UNEMPLOYMENT across Cambridgeshire fell last month in all but one of the county's five districts.

In Huntingdonshire, the number claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in November was 2,757, down from 2,793 in October.

The numbers in Cambridge city, South Cambridgeshire and East Cambridgeshire also showed slight falls. The number out of work in Peterborough fell by around 200.

Only Fenland showed a slight (but statistically insignificant) increase of five additional claimants on a count of more than 2,200.

It was also announced that more than 230 jobs would be created under the Future Jobs Fund. Cambridgeshire County Council will create up to 237 posts across the local authority and its partners, doing a range of roles including healthcare assistant, medical laboratory assistant, health outreach worker, groundskeeper and assistant city ranger, the Department for Work and Pensions said.

The Future Jobs Fund is a pot of cash for local authorities and other public sector or voluntary organisations to bid for funding to create new jobs that will benefit the local community. Nationally, the fund should create around 150,000 jobs for young people, and in unemployment hotspots.

Ministers said the figures showed that policies to help people back to work were keeping unemployment much lower than in previous recessions. But with unemployment expected to keep rising in the New Year, Work and Pensions Secretary, Yvette Cooper pledged to keep increasing help for the unemployed.

"It is encouraging that there are more people in jobs as we get near to Christmas and also that so many more young people have been helped. Government action is keeping unemployment much lower than in previous recessions," she said.

"But it is still tough for a lot of people and we still expect unemployment to increase again in the New Year. So we are determined to do more, supporting up to a total of 30,000 extra youth opportunities in the east of England over the next 18 months."

Ministers are concerned that in the 1980s and 1990s unemployment continued to rise for a long time after the recession ended, and they are determined unemployment should come down further and faster this time, the department said. They believe the figures show they are right to press ahead with the radical reforms announced in last week's White Paper Building Britain's Recovery: Achieving Full Employment.

In Parliament, Yvette Cooper confirmed that from January everyone under 25 would be guaranteed a job, training or work experience after six months on unemployment benefit, providing 100,000 extra youth opportunities nationally on top of 300,000 already announced.

To ensure work is always the best financial option the White Paper also set out that every person on benefit for at least six months, whatever their age, would be �40 per week better off when moving into work.

INFORMATION: Organisations can visit www.dwp.gov.uk/campaigns/futurejobsfund to express interest in bidding for Future Jobs Fund jobs.