00:00Across Kent, people were feeling the effects of the slowing jobs market after the UK unemployment rate rose
00:05and job vacancies fell to their lowest level in five years.
00:09These rates may come as a concern and a shock to many people throughout Kent.
00:14But how do people actually feel about this?
00:17I'm here in Rochester to find out what locals are thinking.
00:21Armed with a pen and paper, I asked residents to tally whether they were concerned about the latest unemployment figures.
00:27There is jobs, but it's either you have people that don't have the requirements for it
00:33and then you have the little jobs that most of the people don't want to do it.
00:37Yes, it does concern me because I just think it's terrible that youngsters don't have a work ethic at all.
00:43They're quite happy to stay at home. Not all of them, obviously, but a big majority of them are.
00:49Clearly there is a problem with young people.
00:51Maybe the government, after all, by introducing the extra national insurance contributions for the employer
01:04has actually restricted the jobs available to young people.
01:09I think that was going to be expected, really, after the budget that we had,
01:12putting the cost of employment up. People just can't afford it.
01:18It's very worrying. But it's the trend of this government, isn't it?
01:22So, you know, they promised a lot and deliver nothing.
01:25Early estimates from the Office for National Statistics suggest the number of job openings fell by 3.9%
01:31to 705,000 between February and April, its lowest since 2021.
01:38Well, I think there's a number of factors here.
01:40We're obviously seeing a lot of businesses that are currently not replacing people.
01:45So this is partly to do with the legacy impact of the national insurance contribution rise that took place in
01:52last year.
01:54Businesses are looking to see if they can try and make do without replacing people who have left.
01:59And so we're starting to have sort of the impact of that on the unemployment figures.
02:04There is also an element of economic challenges.
02:08So we know that there's some things around the world in terms of oil prices, supply chain,
02:14the impact that's having on the cost of manufacturing and services.
02:17With uncertainty continuing to shape the local labour market,
02:21many here in Kent say they're now watching closely to see whether these early warning signs
02:26turn into a longer-term trend.
02:29Maisie Walker for KMTV, Rochester.
02:31Actually on I think Tel Avivor for KMTV,
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