Jobless toll at a 12-year high

Unemployment shot up by more than 600 in Oldham last month.

The figures are a 12-year high and represent 4.3 per cent of the working-age population, higher than the North-West average of 3.9 per cent, and the national figure of 3.4 per cent.

In January, in Oldham, there were 4,339 men out of work and claiming benefits, and 1,317 women, a total of 5,656.

The figures follow another sharp rise in December, when more than 400 people joined the register.

Exactly a year ago there were 1,757 people unemployed across the borough, a rate of 1.3 per cent.

It is 12 years since local unemployment was so high. In April, 1997, there were 5,857 people claiming unemployment benefit, or 4.4 per cent.