THE job market in Liverpool is continuing to prove resilient, although the fragility of the national picture is causing concern.

Official figures published yesterday showed a very slight fall of 72 people claiming jobseeker’s allowance across Liverpool city region, as the unemployment rate remained at 5.3%.

Nationally, there remain few signs of job creation as the economic climate remains uncertain.

Graeme Leach, chief economist at the Institute of Directors, said: “The latest labour market statistics provide more evidence of the jobless and joyless economic recovery.

“At this stage in the recovery, it would be more encouraging if unemployment was falling and employment was rising. Unfortunately, the opposite is still happening.

“In addition, in those areas of the economy where employment is rising, much of the increase tends to be in part-time workers – and all of this before the public sector shake-out has kicked in fully.”

In Liverpool city region, there were 50,325 claimants last month, almost exactly the same as six months earlier, while the last four months have seen movements of 0.5% or less.