THE amount claiming jobseekers allowance has plummeted, according to new figures.

Last month, there were 2,615 claimants for work in Blackburn with Darwen, which is 41 per cent less compared to five years ago. Twenty-three per cent of those were 18 to 24 year olds.

Burnley was the second highest with 1905 claimants, of which 21 per cent were 18 to 24 year olds.

There were 1330 claimants in Hyndburn, 24 per cent of which were 18 to 24 year olds.

In Pendle there were 1095 claimants, of which 20 per cent were 18 to 24 year olds. This means there were 50 per cent less claimants overall in Pendle compared to five years ago.

In Rossendale, there are 880 claimants of which 190 were 18 to 24 year olds.

Whilst in the Ribble Valley, there were 235 claimants of which 21 per cent were 18 to 24 year olds.

Government figures suggest that the employment rate is at a high with just over 32million, 75.1 per cent of eligible people in work, with unemployment down to 57,000, the lowest rate since 1975.

One of the people who has been helped off jobseekers is Jayne O'Hara, 43, from Blackburn who was made redundant from her previous job as a cleaning supervisor, where she worked for 20 years.

She has never been able to read or write and had never disclosed her learning disability to anyone including her husband and children.

But after help from a Job Centre Plus work coach, she interviewed for three jobs and has started work for Housemaster, a small local business who provide high end cleaning services to residential homes across Blackburn and the Ribble Valley.

The work coach referred her for one-to-one tailored service, which included interview techniques and identified three suitable local vacancies to apply for.

Anisha Mohammed, one of the Lancashire job centre worker coaches, said: "I matched Jayne to three suitable vacancies.

"She received interviews for all three job and she was able to confidently apply all the interview tips she had gained for all three job interviews.

"Jayne was offered all three jobs to start, one of the employers required a photographic ID thanks to Bootstrap she is awaiting to receive a provisional driving licence in the post.

Jayne said she was grateful for all the support she has received from the job centre in such a short space of time.

She said: "I’ve been really lucky to have Anisha as my work coach and I’m so glad I was honest and confided in you.”