Record high for jobless figures

Wednesday 16th December 2009, 11:26AM GMT.

Youth unemployment reached a record high today as the jobless total nudged 2.5 million, the worst total since the mid-1990s.

And there was further bad news in Shropshire, with around 40 jobs set to go at a Shrewsbury newspaper and magazine depot.

The number of 16 to 24-year-olds out of work was 952,000 in the three months to October, a quarterly rise of 6,000 and the highest figure since records began in 1992.

Total unemployment increased by 21,000 to 2.49 million, the highest level since early 1995.

There was some good news in today’s figures, which showed the first fall in the number of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance since February last year. This was mirrored in Shropshire and Mid Wales, with 187 fewer people claiming the allowance in the region.

In Shropshire, the number of claimants fell by 38 to 4,798 in November, in Telford & Wrekin the figure fell by 93 to 4,547 and in Powys, 56 fewer people were out of work, leaving the claimant figure at 2,041.

But those figures do not take into account the posts being axed at Smiths News in Shrewsbury, which took over the former Dawson News site in Battlefield earlier this year, which is planning to switch some of its operations to the West Midlands in a bid to save costs.

View more: Mid Wales news, Powys news, Shrewsbury news, Telford news, Telford & Wrekin news.