CONCERNS around the local job market took a turn for the worse yesterday as the annual jobless trend turned negative for the first time in 14 months.

Despite a small fall in the number of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance (JSA) across Liverpool city region, down 254 people last month to 53,352, the claimant count is nearly 3% higher than a year ago. It is the first year-on year increase since March, 2010.

The worst affected borough was Knowsley, which has seen an annual increase of 7%, while Sefton and Liverpool have had increases of 5%.

Wirral and Halton are the only Liverpool city region authorities which are still showing falling claimant count over the last 12 months.

The official figures, published yesterday, high light the lack of post-recession jobs growth across the sub-region as the private sector looks to absorb workers whose jobs have fallen victim to the public sector cuts.

The picture is also mixed nationally. The claimant count rose fractionally by 19,600 last month to 1.49m, the worst figure for more than a year.