A NEW study into the economic situation of Stockton and its surrounding areas has revealed some surprisingly good news.

According to the Stockton Borough Council report the number of people claiming Job Seekers’ Allowance has dropped by 400 since 2014, there are 600 more businesses and the average wage has risen to £26,600.

However, despite 79 per cent of the working age population being economically active, the Stockton district still falls short of providing enough jobs.

To hit Government targets there would need to be another 5,000 jobs in the town and surrounding areas like Billingham and Thornaby.

Fears were raised from leading councillors that Britain’s forthcoming exit from the European Union could put at risk progress made. The latest report is one of a series of economic reports recently completed by council officers and will be used to help form the authority’s new Economic Growth Plan and longer term Economic Strategy.

The report identified big differences in unemployment in different areas of the borough. In rural areas the number of unemployed people was under 50 while in Yarm, Eaglescliffe and Ingleby Barwick the figure was under 200. However in Billingham there were more than 600 unemployed people and in Thornaby about 700. By far the worst area for unemployment was Stockton town itself with 2,325 Job Seekers Allowance claimants.

The overall picture was encouraging with the overall unemployment trend declining since September 2014 when there were 4,549 Job Seekers Allowance claimants to 3,935 in April this year. However the number has risen since last September when there were 3,395 people on the dole.

Council officers identified investment by Japanese companies as a good news story. Companies including car part manufacturers Nifco, biotechnology and medicine company Fujifilm and acrylic product manufacturers Lucite International were all identified as important investors in the Stockton economy.

Discussing the report at Stockton council’s cabinet committee, deputy leader Jim Beall noted the picture was not all rosy. He said: “I’m a glass half full person but there’s another side to this and that’s unemployment. We can’t speculate about the future (potential loss of EU economic funding) but I do hope that initiatives from our Government will continue to help our initiatives to redress the economic balance in the country. The single most important thing we can do is to provide people with good, well-paid jobs.”