The number of people unemployed in Rugby has fallen dramatically during the coalition

Last week the Office for National Statistics published the final set of economic data that will be available to voters before polling day.

Under the coalition government unemployment has fallen dramatically in Rugby. The number of people claiming unemployment benefit has fallen from 2,116 in April 2010 to 615 in March 2015.

Unemployment amongst young people has fallen even more dramatically. When Labour left office in 2010 there were 560 18-24 year olds in Rugby without a job - five years later that number has fallen to 115.

There are two ways of measuring unemployment. Figures based on those claiming benefits and a broader measure looking at everyone who would like to work but is not employed. On the broader measure too unemployment has fallen significantly in Rugby under the coalition from 3,600 when Labour left office to 1,900 now.

Labour likes to belittle the coalition's economic performance and says this is all due to zero-hours contracts. This is emphatically not true in Rugby where there are 1,600 more full-time jobs than there were under Labour.

The Office for National Statistics shows that wages in Rugby have risen under the coalition with a small but welcome shrinking of the gender pay gap. When Labour left office women in Rugby were receiving 69% of average male wages but have now increased this to 73%.

Ed Goncalves, the Liberal Democrats' candidate for Rugby, says "The painful decisions the coalition government had to take to put right the economic mess it inherited from Labour are now bearing fruit. The damaging consequences of Labour government are plain for all to see. What people now need to beware of is a conservative government which would frighten away business investment for two years whilst it threatened to leave European Union. Only the Liberal Democrats are offering the stability needed to complete the economic recovery."