LIVERPOOL students were last night hailed for injecting new life into the economy, with figures showing a rising number are finding jobs after graduating.

And heartened city council and business chiefs said the annual improvements in employment success rates among the region’s students was evidence efforts to beat the credit crunch were slowly taking effect.

Official figures show the percentage of degree students who secured employment or further study after leaving the University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores (LJMU), University of Chester and Ormskirk’s Edge Hill University was higher than the previous year – with only one in 10 or less of graduates missing out.

Even at Liverpool Hope University, which saw a tiny dip, 87.7% of eligible students managed to avoid the dole.

The figures follow official data which showed the number of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance (JSA) in Liverpool, Sefton, Wirral, Knowsley, Halton and St Helens fell last month from 53,352 to 53,118.

Liverpool Chamber of Commerce chief executive Jack Stopforth said the graduate figures were encouraging.

He added: “The fact is, the better educated and prepared for work you are, then the more valuable you are in the workplace. The glib phrase is the ‘knowledge economy’ but that’s what it is – it is all about what you’ve got between your ears.”