Number of jobless in district is soaring

The number of jobless people claiming benefits in The Wyre Forest district has risen by almost half in the past year, it was claimed today.

The district is among those suffering the worst from the economic downturn with a 49 per cent increase of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance. The district's current claimant numbers are still marginally below the average across the country.

But Mark Garnier, Tory spokesman for the Wyre Forest district, today said the increase in claimants revealed in November was "alarming" – and did not take into account job losses announced by major companies in the district before Christmas.

He said that the rise in claimants, at 2.7 per cent of the working population, was fractionally lower than the 2.8 per cent average for the country.

"But what is alarming is the increase of a whopping 49 per cent over the year, compared with the national average at just 36 per cent," he said. "This big increase is certainly alarming, especially when people consider that they won't include any fallout from either Sealine or Ceramaspeed which had announced job losses."

He said Wyre Forest district had in the past had better employment numbers than elsewhere in the country but the new figures suggested it now had a more fragile economy.

"What is vitally important is that we, as a community, recognise this and work towards securing the district's future after this recession," he said. "That is why I am continuing to work to improve the local infrastructure, with the calls for a Stourport Relief Road being a flagship project."