Thousands self-employed as Shropshire jobless figure up
Wednesday 21st December 2011, 10:59AM GMT.
The number of workers employed in Shropshire fell by more than 2,000 in 12 months, new figures have revealed.
According to the Annual Population Survey’s most recent data, the number of residents in the county who were employees dropped from 111,100 to 109,000 between March 2010 and March 2011.
The figures have been revealed in the same month that the UK’s jobless total reached a 17-year high of 2.64 million.
However, the number of people listing themselves as self-employed in Shropshire rose between March 2010 and 2011 – going up from 20,800 to 23,700.
Meanwhile, the number of people in the county claiming JobSeekers Allowance has dropped by 5.9 per cent – reducing from 5,171 in March 2010 to 4,864 in October 2011.
The figures were revealed by Councillor Mike Owen, cabinet member for economic growth, jobs and prosperity at Shropshire Council.
He said: “According to the Annual Population Survey, the number of Shropshire residents who are employees fell by more than 2,000 between March 2012 and March 2011 while the number of self-employed rose by almost 3,000.
“The data relating to workplaces in Shropshire is even more time-lagged than this, but the trends show a definite increase in part-time employment at the expense of full-time.”
According to Business Register statistics, the number of full-time employees in the county has been in gradual decline.
In 2008, it stood at 72,500 workers – equivalent to 66.3 per cent of the working population. By 2009, this had fallen to 70,500 or 63.4 per cent of workers and in 2010 was down to 68,800 – 62.6 per cent.
At the same time, the number of part-time workers in Shropshire has risen steadily.
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