The county’s latest jobless figures, released this week, were given a cautious welcome by Sussex Enterprise.
In the last three months Sussex’s unemployment figures have fallen by just over 600 people.
However, unemployment in the last month stayed fairly stable, falling by 169 people.
The figures were released this week by the Office for National Statistics.
Sussex Enterprise general manager Wendy Bell said: “The latest Sussex job market figures are encouraging with a marginal fall each month since June.
“It is heading in the right direction. Nationally, the level of employment is at a record high, and the fall in the level of inactivity is a positive development, signaling that people are returning to the workforce.
“However, there is little doubt that the economy has been stagnant for too long, and forceful measures are needed to ensure that we return to sustainable positive growth.
“Nationally, there are still some areas of concern, particularly the further increases in the number of people that have been unemployed for more than a year, and for more than two years. The overall economic situation remains difficult.
“It is therefore critical to ensure that the private sector is strong and thriving and remains able to create new jobs. The government must build on the positive job figures, with measures to help businesses grow and create jobs.
“An effective growth strategy should include further deregulation, increased infrastructure spending, and rapid implementation of the decision to create a business bank. If the trend in employment is reversed, the government should not hesitate to reduce employer National Insurance contributions to improve businesses’ ability to take on staff.”
The full statistics are available at: {www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/october-2012/index.html|www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/october-2012/index.html|Office for National Statistics}