Has the dole queue stopped growing at last?
The latest count at the jobcentre is striking.
Across the South West the number of people claiming JobSeekers Allowance has fallen - by one person!
Who are they? Where do they live? What job did they get?
It may be Tom Harrington.
Tom used to run training at the Woolies Distribution depot in Swindon, till the firm went famously bust. For months he and his 400 workmates have been signing on and scouring the job pages.
Well, Tom has a job, I'm pleased to report. He's got on his proverbial bike, all the way to Burton-on-Trent, and is helping sort out a troubled warehouse for a big national booksellers.
OK, he's probably not the only one. But in Swindon as a whole, 219 people stopped signing on - and presumably found a job - between June 11 and July 9. The jobseeker count in Gloucestershire fell by 169. In Dorset, it fell by 2. (You can hear the sensational local headline now can't you: Dole queue falls by twice the regional average!)
It's not all good news. Bristol's jobseekers count has risen by 227, the highest in the west country, but still less than the national average. There have been slight increases in North Somerset (131 extra) and Bath and NE Somerset (58 more).
Is there a pattern? It's mighty hard to spot on. But there is evidence at least of where things are heading. Private companies say they are starting to hire again, according to a survey of personnel directors - the guys who actually do the hiring. Grimmer news though in public sector jobs, where all the signs are the cold wind is now blowing.
The people who watch these things tell me to expect a slight recovery in commercial work, but a big squeeze on jobs in councils, universities, hospitals, the MoD; in short, a whole lot of jobs round our way.
But what's your experience? This is a story where no one person has all the facts, and I'd love to hear what it looks like to you.
PS: If you want to see the figures raw, click here and then open up the August page, look for "LMSswest0809.xls" and click on p16 on the bottom tabs. More stats there than you can ask for.
Hello, I’m Dave Harvey – the BBC’s Business Correspondent in the West. If you’re making hay in the markets or combine harvesting; scratting cider apples or crunching tricky numbers – this is your blog too. 
Comment number 1.
At 18:53 12th Aug 2009, brokenhips wrote:My girlfriend had been searching for a job for the last 9 months.
At month 6, The DSS decided she no longer qualified for any benefits and was now my responsibility, effectively removing her from the unemployed list. I would assume that a large % of people have been taken off the list at the 6 month period and so are not counted in the latest round up.
Her whole experience as an unemployed person has been unacceptable. Job centre employees making her feel both useless and looking down at her, from support staff to security guards who are rude and obnoxious as people queue to try and find work.
A lot of people are almost forced to stop signing on due the degrading treatment they get at the hands of the supposed helpers.
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Comment number 2.
At 05:22 15th Aug 2009, dennisjunior1 wrote:Dave Harvey:
Simple answer NO, the queue for money has not stopped growing, but
more people are not getting help...
=Dennis Junior=
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Comment number 3.
At 10:25 31st Aug 2009, The-Pottter wrote:I think the impact of the recession on the private sector is that they now have spotted an opportunity where it will be acceptable for them to lay people off. I recently spoke to someone who worked within a well-established company and he told me that although the notion of redundancy had cropped up, ultimately they opted against it. Since the recession he told me that their workload had actually increased, yet they still saw fit to cut jobs.
Newcastle Upon Tyne Jobs
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