Unemployment surges by 800

THE number of people claiming out of work benefits in Oldham increased by one person every hour in the last month — as almost 800 new claimants sought help.

The area’s jobless figures in Oldham rocketed nearly 20 per cent last month to 6,449, the highest figure for well over 10 years.

The overall total has gone up by 793, representing 4.9 per cent of the working population.

This figure is made up of 4,906 men — a rise of 567 — and 1,543 women, up 226.

Only Rochdale, at 5.4 per cent, and Manchester, at 5.1 per cent, in Greater Manchester have higher per centages of people out of work than Oldham.

Oldham has one of the highest ratios of jobseekers to vacancies in Britain. According to official figures, the area has almost 31 people on Jobseekers’ Allowance (JSA) for every vacancy advertised in government job centres.

The total number of jobs across Oldham registered at Jobcentre Plus is 704.

Nationally, the number of JSA claimants soared by a staggering 138,400 to reach 1.39 million. And unemployment topped the two million mark - the first time in 12 years. And many economists now fear it will rise to above three million next year.

Employment Minister Tony McNulty said: “These latest figures show the human impact of the global recession. No matter how hard times get, we will not give up on anyone who loses their job and will continue to provide real help to everyone who needs it.

“Even with the fall in labour demand that we are currently experiencing, we need to remember that three quarters of people claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance leave it within six months, and 250,000 people left the claimant count in February.

“We are investing £2 billion to ensure Jobcentre Plus can continue to offer all its customers a first-class service.

“And next month people who have been claiming for six months will be able to access the enhanced package of support which we announced in January.”