Region reports biggest jobless rise
THE unemployment rate in the North West rose faster than any other UK region during the three months to February.
New figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that the number of unemployed people in the region grew by 18,000 during the quarter, or 0.6% pf the workforce. This brings the total number of unemployed in the region to 325,000.
Jack Stopforth, chief executive of Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, said: “As the deficit-cutting plan forces the government to reduce employment, it is likely that the unemployment total will increase over the next year.”
Dr Brian Sloan, chief economist at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said: “The headline numbers for unemployment in the North West will once again disappoint and dent household confidence, but we’ve looked beyond the headlines and there are encouraging signs that private sector job creation is picking up.”
He said that the claimant count in Greater Manchester to the end of March is falling, suggesting that the scale of job losses has slowed.
“We expect that the figures will improve as hiring intentions have strengthened for the months ahead,” he added.
“We do, however, warn that we are still in a low-growth environment and the number of jobs being created could remain too weak to offset any losses without some game changing investment in Greater Manchester and the wider North West.”
Baron Frankal, director of economic strategy at New Economy, said: “We are still waiting to see regular month-on-month declines in JSA (Jobseekers’ Allowance) numbers, an indication that firms are hanging on for as long as possible to see whether the economy is recovering before hiring again.
“There is also the risk that April’s JSA figures will show another spike in claimants – with April being the traditional financial year end and a time when many fixed-term contracts come to an end, many of these may not be renewed given the continuing economic uncertainty.
“While more positive news has emerged in recent weeks that the UK may avoid returning to recession, any growth this year is likely to be extremely modest and will not generate the jobs needed to bring down the number of claimants.”
