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1.79m people out of work
Wednesday 15th October 2008, 2:30PM BST.
The Government was dealt a huge blow on the jobs front today when unemployment increased by 164,000 to its worst level since 1999.
A total of 1.79 million people were out of work in the three months to August, an unemployment rate of 5.7 per cent. The quarterly increase in the number of people out of work, including those not eligible for benefit, was the highest since the summer of 1991.
The figures were mirrored in Shropshire and Mid Wales, with 6,625 people claiming the jobseeker’s allowance in September, compared to 6,444 in August.
Shropshire saw an increase in the jobless figure of 39 up to 2,780. In Telford & Wrekin the figure was up 111 from 2,497 to 2,608 and Powys saw the number of claimants rise by 31 to 1,237, compared to the previous month.
The biggest hikes were in Shrewsbury & Atcham where the jobless total rose from 904 to 924 and in North Shropshire, where the figure went up 19 to 631.
The number of claimants in Bridgnorth was up five from 436 in August to 441, up in Oswestry from 477 to 482, with only South Shropshire bucking the trend with 10 fewer claimants at 302.
Gordon Brown today said the Government would do everything possible to help people out of work.
Speaking before a meeting of European leaders in Brussels, he said: “We will do everything in our power to make sure there are jobs in the British economy.
“These are difficult times, but for every person who is unemployed, we want to do everything we can to help them back into work.”
The latest data from the Office for National Statistics shows employment levels have also slumped – down by 122,000 in the latest quarter to 29.4 million, the biggest three-monthly fall since 1993.
Vicky Redwood, of Capital Economics, forecast the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance would top a million by the end of this year.
Shadow work and pensions secretary Chris Grayling said: “These figures are a clear indication of the real world consequences of Gordon Brown’s Age of Irresponsibility. Again and again he claimed that he had ended boom and bust. That looks pretty hollow now.”
By Business Editor Amy Bould
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I agree unless Government does something unemployed rates will increase but keeping people in Government jobs is not the answer.
The solution is to make unemployment be as unappealing as possible ie No cash handouts just vouchers which can only be used for energy and food.
This will motivate people to take any job on offer and there is plenty of jobs on offer (they may be low pay but you have to start of somewhere)
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Things can only get better!!
looking to leave debt ridden Mediocre taxing Britain
Labour isn’t working!!
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so unemployment has gone up 18000, it is likely to go a lot higher regrettably following redundancies in the banking industry. all is not doom and gloom as there are over 600,000 job vavancies
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Y Mab Darogan said:
“The solution is to make unemployment be as unappealing as possible ie No cash handouts just vouchers which can only be used for energy and food.
This will motivate people to take any job on offer and there is plenty of jobs on offer (they may be low pay but you have to start of somewhere)”
errrrr, they’re talking about job losses – you can make unemployment as unappealing as you like, it won’t stop people being unemployed if the jobs aren’t there.
I’m sure that there are many people who’d argue with your comment that “there is plenty of jobs on offer” (and not just about the grammar).
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What Y Mab Darogan?! If there give us vochers, how can we pay for cigrets and cider? I know for a start my bull terrie will not get more food when my choose is cigrets or dog food. Then were will social be? Blood on it’s hands, that is were! Why shuld a poor inocent dog suffer just to save cash? No vochers! Give us cash like normal humans get – it is our write.
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I think you mean the highest since 1989 not 1999! Still bad news what ever.
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Y Mab,
You’ve taken a very simplistic view of the situation. It isn’t reasonable or sensible to expect a highly-skilled or highly qualified person who has been made redundant after working for a company for many years, paying tax and NI for all of that time to leap into the first minimum wage job that comes along.
For a start, they’re unlikely to stay for long, as they’ll eventually get something better, thus causing disruption to the employer who’s taken them on, and secondly, think of the enormous waste of talent in forcing highly-skilled people into jobs so well within their capabilities.
It might interest you to know that if you’ve been in work for most of a lifetime, paying tax & NI for all that time, all you’re entitled to from the DWP is about £60 per week for six months – after that you get nothing unless you’ve used up all of the money you got for redundancy and your savings etc. So much for the ‘insurance’ part of National Insurance!
Don’t assume, especially in these turbulent times that everyone who has lost their job is some sort of a scrounger. To many, this will have been a devastating blow.
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I agree with Chavney Asbo and Rob from Telford…In addition, you cannot ‘throwh’ people in any job,they should and they must be happy wherever they are working..
Chavney Asbo, there are free courses for people that cannot spell or read properly..I advise you to join one of them, you will have more money and more food for your dog then.Because if you can write and read you have a better chance for a decent job….
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Well I think Y Mab is half right – bring back the work house!
My Great-great grandfather’s mother was an inmate in Shropshire workhouse and he was born there. But we have pulled ourselves up by the boot straps (as soon as we could afford boots) and I am proud to say that we have come a longway through hard work and good old Torie values and I now live in a caravan.
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According to the Star:
“Gordon Brown today said the Government would do everything possible to help people out of work”
This confirms what a lot of people had suspected for some time….
…..as part of this new honesty can we expect a statement soon admitting that their main priorities are looking after the rich and packing as many people as possible as possible into the country?
Thought not!!
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If things are starting to look difficult with inflation and unemployment rising, there is much worse to come. We have to deal with stupendous national and budgetary debts which, foolishly for the past 11 years we thought didn’t have to be paid back. The increase in manpower in the Public Services, particularly health, education and the Police continue to have to be paid for, they were recruited on borrowed money, now, the only solution is borrow more or sack them, I await the result with interest.
Despite all the warnings, immigrants have poured into this country in a never – ending flood and, when jobs were going begging, they took many jobs that others thought unsuitable and did not wish to do. Now, human nature being what it is, people declared redundant and put out of work are not going to look kindly on foreign newcomers in work and gainfully employed. I believe that the near future is not going to be a particularly pleasant time for a lot of people and my sympathies are with the unemployed, the single parents and the pensioners. We are going to see the results of 11 years of spend, spend, spend based on borrow, borrow, borrow, and what get’s my goat is that people still try to defend the idiots that have brought us to this.
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mention of the work house reminds me of 2 in shropshire, one became cross houses hospital now developed as flats etc and the other became shrewsbury school when the school moved into it at kingsland, shrewsbury from what is now the library. i fear worse times are ahead for 2/3 years
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Rob: Very good obsevation!!
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Beans, thanks mate, (true-ly), but if I do one of those “free courses”, then I mite finly get a job it is true. But then how can I look after my terrie-dog?! At the moment, Im OK to sit at home and get benfits as this is the best way for me – gives me time to think and trane my dog for things. I did not have a job untill now and I do not think it is fair to make me have one as I do not feel quiet ready for it yet. In any case, with a salery or wage, you have to pay tax’s on it and this is obversly NOT fair – why shuld I pay my hard urned money to help lazy people?! Same thing wuld happen – culd not buy cigrets AND dog food so dog wuld have to go on the streets. I live in Telford, so closet work to my house is 1 mile anyway and DVLA took my car away for no insurnce and tax. What does Y Mab think I shuld do – get on my bike??!! No thanks Beans mate, it is kind of you to say those things but 29 is to yung to have work anyway. I am not a “scrounger”, but best to leave the jobs to them what needs them – let us honest working-class peeps stay on benifits and be free insted of be pushed to work by middle-class fat cats who only want slavs!!
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Clown has a solution!!
All the unemployed will become loft insulation fitters, that’s how far from reality these people are, and he’s the answer!!!
They will reap a whirlwind
Election and the promised vote on EU please.
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I would force all the unemployed to do voluntary work – they could pick litter of the street clean up vandilism etc
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I’d like to nominate “Chavney Asbo” for the Comment of the Week Award – superb!!
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drewp, may 2010 election labour wins by 32 seats, oh dear another tory leader required
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Devon Salopian
We can’t afford to be get fooled again!
Who would want to inherit Clowns economy
£100 billion and counting
No one to vote for, non of the above
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For those that think that the messiahs came to fix our economy in the shapes of Brown and Darling perhaps those same people saw Newsnight last night (Wednesday) when the French Finance Minister was interviewed by Emily Maitless. Maitless asked the lady (words to the effect)if she thought that Brown had brought about a solution to the crisis and if all other EU countries were following his lead. The Minister’s reply, “please don’t let us start to nit pick, before the UK (meaning Brown) put his plan into being, all the other EU countries implemented their own schemes, then Sarkozy (French Prime Minister) called the meeting to which all EU leaders attended, it was at that meeting that the present scheme was decided on, we all had a hand in it.
So, there we have it, not only did Brown not initiate this “bail-out” himself as everyone seems to think and his followers claim but today we read that the scheme is starting to unwind with Bankers wanting changes to the previously agreed conditions. Notably they want “dividends” to be paid to shareholders of bailed out banks. In other words, taxpayers money to be used to pay them sums which before would have been paid from the profits of the bank. They still expect the same when the banks make no profits and have to be bailed-out.
In fairness to Darling, he has categorically refused to allow this and rightly so. Whilst the non-payment of share dividends will deter new buying of shares in bailed-out banks, it is wholly wrong to reward “old” shareholders when the times are tough, they knew what they were taking on when they invested in shares and the refusal to pay dividends is about the only thing that I will credit Brown and Darling with. They must stand firm.
Let’s have no more thinking that Brown and Darling thought up this scheme themselves, they are still the same clowns that existed before this crisis started.
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Drewp,
Given that leaving the EU would inevitably put us more under the control of the US, and given that the US have largely caused the current crisis through irresponsible lending, I’m stuggling to follow your logic.
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Peter
Old Europe is a dinosaur along with the cost of membership and the fact it dictates all our lives. We the public should have the promised vote.
What are they afraid of?
Where you get the American connection from is beyond reasonable thought.
Utilise the commonwealth, real potential!
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Y Mab: If you make the unemployed pick up litter then the man who does it now will be unemployed!
Re Chavney: I expects he thinks its call welfare because to him it must seem “well fair”, init? I think the Star should publish Cavneys comment in the letters page!
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The last time we had this misery was thanks to Maggie and her Tory vandals who decimated our traditional Industries, all we have left is our Banking and Insurance sectors!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Lucy W – No one picks up the litter now – The council cut all the litter picking jobs to fund more useless managers in the Council
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so if everybody throws their litter on the floor then your keeping somebody in employment
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this is not a problem for those of us with skills. Unemployment is a price worth paying to get the inflationary pressure on the economy under control, when people fear for their jobs more they will accept lower pay rises which is important for managing wage lead inflation and thus curbing price rises for all. People can still get jobs if they really try, there are plenty of jobs, if they would rather be on the dole then though that is derisable and shows their character is weak but well atleast it will help lower inflation
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Capt Chaos, get with it. This Labourite lot have admitted that they put banking and finance before manufacturing industry and they also admit this was a mistake on their part. In 11 years under Labour, more maufacturing jobs have been lost that at any time under the Tories. As just one little example, speak to the ex Labourites in Stoke on Trent who have seen the pottery industry decimated, what about our car industries, the sale of our steel industry to an Indian firm etc etc etc etc etc. The Labourites have sucked up to the bankers more than any Tory Government has ever done – now deny that, but knowing those who support Labour, they surely will.
We wouldn’t be in this mess if this Labour gang in Westminster hadn’t ecouraged rip-roaring spend and borrow.
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there are over thirty jobs being advertised just to the right of this page, are things really as bad as people hear in the media or are we just getting caught up in the media fueled anti-hype
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When I left School in Shrewsbury in the early 70,s we had Rolls Royce, Halls Engineering, Warner Swaseys, Building, Electrical and Plumbing Contractors all offering apprenticeships and all suffered under the Tories and yes I am saddened to say Labour just carried on where Maggie left off! they areall to blame!
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Stuart I am only pointing out were the decline started its bitterly disappointing that Labour did not kick start our Industries! my job involves visiting Factories mainly to carryout witness testing for new plant and where do I go? France, Germany, Finland and Italy! the French Govt has extremely robust laws protecting their workers whilst ours are so weak its always easier for Global Companies to close their UK operations first.
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Drewp, In what way does Europe ‘dictate all our lives’? Only in the fantasy world of the tabloids, methinks.
If you cannot understand the damage that the US has done us recently, then you simply haven’t been listening.
As for the Commonwealth, I think you’ll find most of these countries have found nations to trade with closer to home. The days when we could exploit their raw materials and cheap labour are long gone.
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Anyone remember Yosser Hughes line from Boys from the Black Stuff? “Gis a Job”
History has a knack of repeating itself when it comes to economies.
It’s easy to point the blame at leaders of certain industries or politicians.
Fact of life is that there are ups and downs in the financial world.
Always have been, always will.
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Job loses are upsetting which ever way we look at it, but there are solutions/other jobs, problem is people get stuck in a rut, and they go in search of a job that is identical to their last one.
My only issue with the coverage by the media over this issue is:
Alot of people are going to work recently wondering if their jobs are safe. These people are worried sick, and stressed at the thought of being unable to support their families.
I think it’s wrong that the media are plastering it everywhere and slamming it in peoples face, that they could be out of a job – it’s just mental torture to these people, they are worried enough! If people are going to lose job, just let it happen, stop talking about it!!! stop adding extra worry to people!
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So what there are still hundreds of vacancies, get down the job centre i tell them
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Peter: we are bound by European Legislation – we have to do what they say. Its as simple as that.
Think about European Convention of Human Rights, The Smoking Ban and having to sell things in Kilos – its all because the Johnny foreigner said we have to do like they do.
Now our continental concatenations had no issue with a few mangey foxed being killed swifty and humanely by hounds, but instead of regulating international finance, adopting green initiatives, getting our hospitals clean and generally sorting this country out, the Government wasted an unprecedented amount of time, money and effort passing a law (only via the Parliment Act!) that no-one observes and no-one enforces.
They should have got their priorities right!
Labour are just sad old toff bashers, always have been, always will be. The country should be run by wealth creators! The more tax you pay, the more votes you get – sounds fair to me.
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“As for the Commonwealth, I think you’ll find most of these countries have found nations to trade with closer to home. The days when we could exploit their raw materials and cheap labour are long gone”.
……………………………………….
Peter, you show a strange lack of knowledge of Commonwealth and ex colonial matters. The “exploitation” of raw materials and cheap labour is a figment of left wing propaganda. A great many of our former colonies would welcome the opportunity to be “re-exploited”.
Why don’t you ask the copper workers in Zambia who they would rather have “exploiting” them, the British or the Chinese, ask them when they were better off financially, under the British or under the independent Zambian Government. Ask the Zimbabweans (out of earshot of the State employed thugs and party bovver boys, ie the veterans) and, almost to a man and woman, they would raise the Union Jack tomorrow. Ask the Kenyans who send plane-loads of carnations, roses and a host of exotic flowers to the UK to compensate for the other exports like tea, coffee etc etc which they now have difficulty in finding a market for after Britain found alternative sources and now imports a trickle. Ask the people of Botswana who now export “petit pois” by the hundreds of tons to the Uk if they were exploited when they lived in a dirt bowl and went by the thousands to be exploited in the mines of South Africa – that was exploitation but not by the Colonial Government. I could go on – space doesnt permit it but you speak as if you have some abiding, sour gripe about your country, our political history and everything about UK plc. This country was the biggest Colonial power the world has ever seen, it has every right to feel proud at what it accomplished and prouder still that the countries that we governed, having gained independence, of their own free will, choose to remain in the Commonwealth with the Queen as it’s Head of State. Indeed, Mozambique (formerly Portuguese East Africa) has opted to become a member of the Commonwealth rather than associate itself with its former Colonial “masters”.
When you cast aspertions against your own Government for it’s Colonial history, compare it particularly with that of Belgium, then France, Spain, Portugal, Germany etc. We can hold our heads high and have nothing to be ashamed of.
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Stuart: Excellent post on how our colonial cousins yearn for the Union Jack to fly over their lands again.
Just one technicality, which was a bit ambiguous re HM the Queen being Head of the Commonwealth. Many people assume that out Head of State is automatically the Head of the Commonwealth. That is not so, members chose whomever they want to be Head of CW, just so happens they are so grateful for what we Brits have done for them, they choose our Queen. If Charlie boy ever becomes King, he may not necessarily be Head of CW, but I bet he will because our colonial cousins love us, so much that they want to come and be subjects of Her Majesty.
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Lucy, as a member of the Colonial Service for many years in Africa and the Far East, put my “ambiguity” down to getting offended at typical “left wing” tripe re our Colonial record and rushing into print without crossing the t/s and dotting the i/s. Yes, of course, she is Head of the Commonwealth by common acceptance and consent of members.
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