Guernsey's unemployment rate rises

Mr Gnapp said the situation for those on redundancy pay was less urgent

Guernsey's unemployment rate has risen by 22.5% over a 12 month period.

There were 408 people unemployed in November - 75 more than at the same time in 2011. The figure represents a rise of 11.5% from the previous month.

An additional 187 people received supplementary benefits while working part-time, while another 47 were on training schemes.

There were 14 people registered as unemployed in Alderney at the end of November, compared to 11 in October.

Chris Gnapp, the managing director of the Leapfrog recruitment agency, told BBC Guernsey: "There's definitely an imbalance between the number of people looking for work and the number of jobs out there.

"It's switched around since the situation we had five years ago, when we had trouble filling the vacancies."

However, Mr Gnapp said the situation was not entirely bleak.

"There are jobs out there," he said. "It just takes a lot longer to find suitable roles for people.

"There are also a lot of people on redundancy pay, meaning they are relatively comfortable. They're not searching for work with the same urgency but they're still on the figures."