UNEMPLOYMENT figures in Herefordshire have remained low, despite the doom and gloom of the national economic situation.

In July, 1,505 people in the county were reported to be out of work and claiming benefit.

According to Herefordshire Council’s quarterly economic bulletin, that amounted to 1.5% of the total working population compared with 1.4% in July 2007.

But it warned there were hotspots of unemployment in the county.

In the St Martins and Hinton area of Hereford the rate is 2.7%, and in Belmont it is 2.4%. In north Leominster 2.5% are out of work and it is 2% in the south of the town, while the rate is 2.2% in Rosson- Wye, west.

The number of long-term claimants – 12 months or more – is said to be falling, with four out of five unemployed people being out of work for less than six months.

The highest number of jobs are in Hereford, particularly on the Rotherwas Business Park, and in the market towns of Leominster, Ledbury and Ross-on-Wye.

Councillor Adrian Blackshaw, the cabinet member for economic regeneration, said Herefordshire was holding its own as having one of the lowest unemployment rates in the region.

But the council, together with other agencies, was monitoring the situation closely and lobbying for measures, investment and jobs to support the local economy during challenging times ahead.

The bulletin said a potential 200 new jobs could be created when locally owned Wye Valley Group opened up a new site adjacent to its existing premises at Rotherwas.

And £32 million of European funding is to be used to help jobless people in Herefordshire and Worcestershire get back to work. The project will target some of the most disadvantaged people, including lone parents and people with disabilities, to give them the skills and training they need.

The Herefordshire unemployment rate of 1.5% remains less than half of that for the West Midlands and compares with the UK rate of 2.3%.