THE Government has vowed to help the North East after new figures showed unemployment rising again.
Business Secretary Vince Cable is to look at the potential for an enterprise zone – where taxes are reduced to bring in new business – in the Lynemouth area after the closure of the Alcan aluminium plant.
He said: “We can look at that. Enterprise zones have to be very carefully designed in terms of their potential for attracting new business.”
Yesterday Employment Minister Chris Grayling said it would “redouble” its efforts to help the North East.
He said measures to be announced in the Chancellor’s autumn statement, in effect a mini-budget, later this month would offer hope to the region amid grim figures. Unemployment in the North East increased by 15.9% in the three months to September, it was revealed yesterday.
The Office for National Statistics data showed that a total of 146,000 people were unemployed in the region between July and September, 20,000 more than in the previous quarter.
The region’s unemployment rate was 11.6% – the highest of any region.
Referring to the latest jobs blow, Mr Grayling said: “It is really disappointing news.
“It obviously puts extra pressure on the labour market in the North East.
“We will be offering support to those affected through the JobCentre rapid response team.
“And it obviously redoubles our determination to adopt measures that will help the North East in the autumn statement.”
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Nationally, total unemployment rose by 129,000 in the latest quarter to 2.62m, the worst figure since 1994, giving a jobless rate of 8.3%.
Youth unemployment reached a record high of more than a million, with more 16 to 24-year-olds now out of work than at any time since 1992.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “Today’s milestone of more than a million young people being out of work is the true mark of the Government’s economic strategy. Government plans to offer cut-price work experience are a woefully inadequate response.”
John Walker, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “Youth unemployment figures are truly shocking and with more than one million young people unable to find a job, the Government must wake up and take action to turn this around.”
Labour leader Ed Miliband, who yesterday visited the North East, said it was a “terrible day“ for the country, adding: “Instead of blaming everyone else and trying to find excuses in the eurozone, the Government should recognise that the British economy has been flatlining for a year – long before this recent crisis began.”
