Jobless queues have continued to shrink in large areas of the Black Country and Staffordshire, official figures showed today.
This reflects the national trend which has seen the number of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance falling by 11,100 in November to 813,000, the lowest since the summer of 1974 and the 14th consecutive monthly cut.
At the same time employment has reached a record high, according to the Office of National Statistics, with the total number of people in work standing at over 31 million.
In Wolverhampton the number of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance fell 67 to 6787, or 4.7 per cent of the working population, while in Dudley it dropped 110 to 5246, or 2.9 per cent.
Sandwell saw a fall of 342 to 7208, or 4.1 per cent, while in Walsall the drop was 120 to 5521, or 3.7 per cent.
In Kidderminster and Wyre Forest the figure fell by just five to 1062, or 1.8 per cent of the working population, while in South Staffordshire it was down by one to 920, or 1.4 per cent.
7 Comments
Good news may the figures continue to fall as more get back into work!
Actually, these figures can be misinterpreted. When a jobseeker has been on benefits for a ‘long term’ (6months plus) they are obliged to undertake full time training (New Deal). Whilst on these training courses they receive a training allowance and thus are not recorded as jobseeker claimants. Also, they are many who sign on for the national insurance credits only - again, these people are unemployed but not recorded….
Bemused you are spot on. There is no choice but to go on these mostly useless schemes. And Laura..being in work is not the full solution; the West Midlands has some of the worst-paying jobs in England, with some of the longest hours and worker rights. Those who can work elsewhere, don’t hesitate to do so..perhaps that is why posts aren’t filled. Blame the gov and the staff agencies.
Just to clarify this important point: if you are on the New Deal you are not classed as unemployed. The New Deal is a means for private enterprise to make vast sums of money paying peanuts and for the government to manipulate figures. The schemes on offer are mostly nothing but forced labour. If you don’t think this is the case, try it sometime.
What ‘Bemused’ says is absolutley correct. The Government have always massaged the unemployment figures to make them look better. There are many different schemes and benefits for the long term unemployed, but the success rate is very low.
However…if the numbers of people claiming benefit really is falling, then how about some tax cuts Gordon?
Official figures, well we all know about official figures don’t we!
oh dear oh dear more manipulations by comrade Brown and the KGB at Number 10 & 11 what a pity the public can’t be nothered to rise up and put a stop to this lot.
I was sent on one of these 13 day courses in Bridgtown on the A5 it was the biggest waste of time, i found out the people who owned the company running this course were actually ex DSS officials, unethical or what.
On printing our details into a computor regards our cv and other details, ten of us were reccommended to be zoo keepers, you couldn’t make it up if you tried.
4000 senior civil servants have guarenteed themselves a 33 grand a year pension by stowing your money into banks to cover their pensions i forget how many millions involved to pay this money, probably the money not paid to squadies in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Get snouts out the trough party