Jersey's first time unemployment hits a record level

The number of Jersey people registered as unemployed for the first time was at its highest level to date last month.

Overall unemployment has risen to a new record high level in the island, above the record of the previous four months.

The States Statistics Unit said at the end of January, 1,700 people were actively seeking work in Jersey.

A report said nearly a third of jobseekers were under the age of 25 and one in five people had been out of work for more than a year.

In January, 360 people were newly-registered as unemployed, which was 130 more than the previous month, and the highest recorded to date.

The States Statistics Unit said a proportion of those may have registered as a result of the JT jobs initiative which ran last month.

The telecoms company is working with the social security department to recruit current job-seekers to work on a programme creating a new fibre telecoms network in Jersey.