Jobless total falls to 7,177

THE number of people claiming unemployment benefit in Oldham has fallen by almost 200 in the last month.

Official monthly figures released yesterday show in October there were 7,177 people claiming Job Seekers’ Allowance (JSA) across the borough — down 179 from 7,356 in September.

A breakdown reveals 2,515 claimants are aged 18 to 24, a further 3,780 people aged 25 to 49-year-old are claiming JSA and the remainder of claimants are over 50.

More than two-thirds (4,710) of the total claimants have been signing on for less than six months and only 820 people across Oldham have been claiming the benefit for more than a year.

Nationally, the number of people claiming JSA rose by 12,900 to 1.64 million.

Oldham East and Saddleworth MP Phil Woolas said: “Against the backdrop of very tough conditions this is welcome news. Oldham has some world-class companies who are fighting out of the recession.

“But my meeting earlier this week with Oldham Chamber of Commerce leads me to be very cautious. We do benefit from Christmas jobs in the distribution industry. Hard work and fingers crossed is the recipe.”

National unemployment now stands at 2.4 million — a rise of 30,000 in the period July to September — but the number of people in work increased by 6,000 to 29 million in the last three months, the first quarterly rise since last summer.

Employment Minister Jim Knight said: “When faced with the worst global recession since the 1930s we made a decision to give jobseekers the support they need, investing £5 billion since last November in creating jobs, bringing in advisers to Jobcentre Plus and expanding training and apprenticeships.

“The figures show that while there is still more to do our investment is making a real difference to people’s lives and ensuring that our labour market is performing well compared to other leading economies.”

Figures also reveal there are 722 jobs being advertised on Jobcentre boards across Oldham. It is estimated Job Centre Plus holds about one-third of the available vacancies, meaning 2,166 could be available.

But ministers warned that further rises in unemployment are expected next year.