THE job market remains "buoyant" in Fife with opportunities available for anyone seeking work.

That's the view of Dunfermline DWP Partnership manager Phil Martin after the latest labour market figures showed a 0.8 per cent rise in unemployment in Dunfermline and West Fife with a 0.9 per cent increase across Fife.

There was good news for the Alternative Claimant Count (ACC), which records the number of people in the searching for work conditionality group.

The ACC figures contain people claiming Universal Credit who are required to look for (or additional) work and are on council tax/housing benefit relief.

This showed a decrease of 543 claimants compared to last year in Dunfermline and West Fife and, across Fife, a fall of 371 people.

Mr Martin told the Press he was was optimistic about the Fife figures.

"It has (the number of Universal Credit claimants) slowed up," he said. "It was more than that previously. Whilst things are still increasing, the rate of increase is slowing down.

"What is important is the alternative claimant count because that measures the people searching for work groups. Across all of Fife, it is showing a reduction. So looking at the numbers, the 18-24 has gone down by 226 since last year and 371 for all claimants.

"That is really good that it is making a difference going forwards.

"Fife is one of the local authorities from across the UK which fairs better than most. There is a reduction of 13.4 per cent. Overall, Fife is starting to move in the right direction mainly because there is such a wide variety of jobs at the moment."

Mr Martin said there was a range of jobs on offer for West Fife jobseekers.

"The labour market is very buoyant. If you are looking for work, there are opportunities out there," he added. "There's care, hospitality, food production and warehouses and retail – there's a considerable amount of retail jobs.

"The kickstart programme is going really well and is continuing to provide job placements. People from Fife are going to places in Edinburgh and elsewhere.

"Because there has been a slight reduction in restrictions, now employers are able to come into the job centres to talk to customers faceto face."