Government to protect Nissan jobs
Dec 18 2008 by William Green, The Journal
15% rise in jobless since summer
THE rate of unemployment is rising faster in the North East than in any other part of England.
New Government figures revealed a 15.5% rise between August and October meant more than 100,000 people in the region were looking for work.
The Office of National Statistics report, released yesterday, showed an extra 14,000 people started claiming job seeker’s allowance, taking the total unemployed to 104,000.
That means 8.2% of the working age population is out of work, the highest rate in Britain and 33,000 higher than last year.
Nationally, unemployment rose by 137,000 to reach 1.86m, the highest since 1997.
Other regions of England have seen lower percentage rises; in the North West unemployment rose by 11%, in Yorkshire there was a 13.4% increase and in London it was 11.5%.
Both the East and the East Midlands regions saw falls in unemployment. Only Wales with a 17.5% increase and Scotland with 19.6% had higher increases than the North East.
TUC North East regional secretary Kevin Rowan said: “These figures are terrible news for the region and portray a dreadful reality for thousands of families in the region, now facing Christmas on the dole.
“There is a view that the North East is going to face less difficult times than other parts of the country. Today’s figures shatter that myth. The North East is a small region already with the lowest employment rate in the UK apart from Northern Ireland.
“We can’t afford any job losses but instead we are experiencing rapidly increasing unemployment.
“The Government and public agencies at all levels need to focus on supporting businesses cope with the recession and weigh in with resources to help people cope with unemployment and maximise the support to enable workers to get back into jobs.”
Nick Brown, Minister for the North East, said: “The good news is that the number of vacancies remains high. There’s a broad spread of jobs by type and by location within the region.
“The rise in unemployment is disappointing, but by working together, we can get the region through this.”
Ross Smith, head of policy and research at the North East Chamber of Commerce, said: “Businesses are working in difficult economic conditions at present so we need the Government to be innovative in looking for ways to support businesses to maintain employment and crucially to maintain the skills level of the North East workforce.”
Liz Mayes, assistant regional director of CBI North East said: “These latest statistics are in line with expectations, illustrating that the credit crunch is having a significant impact on the real economy.
“We are providing feedback to the Government on what needs to be done to help businesses continue to employ people in these challenging times, in particular emphasising that Government should take the necessary steps to keep credit flowing.”
Click here for the full report.
Page 3: Train operator reveals plans to axe hundreds of staff
