NW jobless figure on the up

THE number of people in the North West claiming unemployment benefits rose by 35,000 in the three months to the end of June, official figures have revealed.

There are now 300,000 people in the region claiming benefits in the region, the ONS said.

Nationwide in the three months to June unemployment rose 38,000 to 2.49m.

Greater Manchester followed the regional upward trend with an increase of 2,398Last month 79,075 people claimed the benefit compared with 76,677 the month before.

Dr Brian Sloan, Head of Business & Economic Policy at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said: “Having seen encouraging signs that the labour market was picking up in our last Quarterly Economic Survey this rise in the claimant count is a severe blow.

“Even allowing for an expected rise due to public sector losses and Government policy, the recruitment intentions of private sector firms are not reaching fruition.

“Since the survey the global economy has slowed and domestic demand remains weak, so businesses are holding back with their recruitment plans. Government must put in place policies that are bold and decisive in order to get the labour market moving again.”

Professor Jill Rubery of Manchester Business School said the figures expose a two-track economy, with the NW witnessing a spike in unemployment and the South East escaping relatively  unscathed.

She said: “These figures reveal not only the very depressed state of the British economy but also the widening divide between regions such as the North West and the more stable South East.

“Over the last quarter the unemployment rate in the North West rose by a full one percentage point but by only a tenth of a percentage point in the South East.

“Over the year the North West recorded a 0.7 percentage point increase in unemployment while the rate declined by 0.2 of a percentage point in the South East.”