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New rise in Shropshire unemployment
Wednesday 16th February 2011, 11:11AM GMT.
Unemployment in Shropshire reached its highest rate in nine months during January, while a record number of young people are out of work, new figures have shown.
The number of people on Jobseekers Allowance in Telford and Wrekin increased from 3,980 in December to 4,264, meaning 4.1 per cent of people were out of work, the highest rate since last May.
And in Shropshire Jobseekers Allowance claimants increased from 4,608 people in December to 4,929 last month, meaning 2.7 per cent of the population are jobseekers, the highest rate since April 2010.
The figures still fall short of the West Midlands Jobseekers rate, which is now 4.7 per cent of the population of working age.
The region’s total unemployment rate hit 9.8 per cent, reflecting 261,000 people being out of work, a rise of 28,000 between October and December.
Nationally, a record number of 16 to 24-year-olds are out of work and more people than ever are in part-time jobs as they can’t find full-time employment, today’s official figures revealed.
Unemployment jumped by 44,000 in the final three months of 2010 to just under 2.5 million, a jobless rate of 7.9 per cent.
But youth unemployment is now 20.5 per cent after a 66,000 increase to 965,000.
Work and Pensions Minister Chris Grayling said: “It’s been a difficult few months in the labour market but things do now seem to be stabilising. The rise in the number of vacancies is particularly encouraging.
“The challenge for us now is to push ahead with our welfare reforms as quickly as possible so we start to move more people off benefits to take advantage of those vacancies.”
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I’m not surprised to be honest, it’s tough out there. My partner was let off at the end of November and has only JUST, today, been offered a job position.
He has been applying for pretty much every job he is capable of performing but had very little back. The job he was offered today is only a part-time cleaning post but he is just happy to know he will be coming off Jobseekers and actually have some structure back in his life. He’s still looking for another part-time or full-time post though. The Job Centre haven’t been particularly great in aiding him either…
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It looks like a repeat of 1979-1990 ,the slogan used then was “Labour insn’t working”
Now I think it should be “Con-Dems are destroying our country”
This recession will be ten times worse than the previous one,yet David Cameron is still allowing huge bonus payments to bankers,still with 50% of Conservative funding coming from the city he is not going to bite the hand that feeds him-but we are all in this together.
Talk about double standards!
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Not a huge surpirse is it? Visited Shrewsbury yesterday and I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many empty shops to let. Independent small businesses falling like a deck of cards and not just retail – friends tell me of another one gone at Shropshire Food Centre and a couple more on industrial estates only this week ! Its not looking good for our young people looking for their first work experience.
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