"New unemployment figures for July 2011 are yet again a mixed bag.', says David Ruffley MP.

Nationally the number of people aged 18 or over claiming Jobseekers Allowance increased by 37,100 between June and July 2011 to 1.56 million people. This is the largest monthly increase since May 2009. However, the number of people in employment rose by 25,000 over the past quarter and by 251,000 over the past year to reach 29.27 million in April-June 2011.

David Ruffley MP said 'In the Bury St Edmunds constituency, the number of unemployed in July 2011 was 1,474. This represents an unemployment rate of 2.7% of the economically active population aged 16 to 64, the 542nd highest out of the 650 UK constituencies. This is slightly up from July 2010.

The East of England still has the second lowest unemployment rate in England, with a rate of 6.5%. The highest area was the North East with a rate of 10%. The lowest was the South East, with a rate of 5.8%.

Unemployment in Bury St Edmunds is still too high. The Government needs to focus on creating jobs in the private sector by supporting small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs)- cutting red tape, removing ridiculous bureaucracy and simplifying employment law to make it easier to take on new staff. Small businesses employ the majority of my constituents- and we must get the Government off their back.'