The West Midlands is one of the areas worst affected by the recession in the UK, a report revealed today with thousands more claiming Job Seeker’s Allowance.

Birmingham has suffered the most job losses over the past year, with 12,000 more people claiming the benefit this year compared to the same time in 2008. Walsall and Cannock Chase have also been badly affected. They are listed in the top 10 of worst hit areas in research by the Work Foundation Fund. In Birmingham the total number of claimants rose by 12,383 in February.

This is up from 33,274 in February 2008 to 45,657 in February 2009, an increase of two per cent.

Leeds, Glasgow, Sheffield, Hull, Manchester, Bradford, Kirklees, Liverpool and Bristol are in the worst affected cities. Among local authorities, Cannock Chase is listed fifth and Walsall ninth in the equivalent table. Cannock Chase saw the number of claimants rise from 1,218 in February 2008 to 3,167 in February 2009, up from 2.1 per cent to 5.3 per cent.

And in Walsall, the number of claimants rose from 5,741 in February 2008 to 10,047 in February 2009, up from 3.8 per cent to 6.7 per cent.

Job losses during the recession have impacted most on large cities outside the capital, according to the research.

The biggest jumps in total numbers of people claiming unemployment benefit were found in the North, West Midlands, Scotland, and areas linked with traditional manufacturing.

The sharpest increases in unemployment – as a percentage – often came in council areas which have never shared in the success of the economic boom.

Naomi Clayton, senior researcher at The Work Foundation, said: “Places in the eye of the storm as job losses mount are the UK’s core cities and areas associated with traditional manufacturing – places which in many cases had yet to recover fully from previous recessions before this one set in.

“It is the core cities of the north and Midlands that are worst hit. Perhaps more revealing, though, are the council areas that have seen the sharpest upward movements in unemployment rates.”

The figures were taken from the Office of National Statistics.