Seasonal jobs help Oldham buck trend

OLDHAM went against the national trend of rising unemployment pre-Christmas by recording a drop in the number of people out of work in the borough.

The drop was by only 27 — mainly thanks to the number of women taking on seasonal jobs — but at least Oldham is holding its own in the face of a fierce recession.

The number of people out of work in December was 6,273, with 1,721 jobless women, a fall of 32, and 4,584 men, a rise of five.

With Oldham’s dependence on temporary agency jobs in distribution and food manufacture this is a worry as people employed in these industries in the lead up to the festive season usually results in a significant drop in jobless.

The figure represents 4.6 per cent of the working population compared with 3.6 nationally and 3.9 regionally.

Nationally, unemployment has soared by 49,000 to 2.5 million, with a record number of young people out of work.

One in five 16 to 24–year–olds are jobless after an increase of 32,000 in the quarter to November to 951,000, the highest figure since records began in 1992.

Employment levels have fallen, redundancies have increased and the number of people classed as economically inactive has reached 9.3 million, the grim figures reveal.

The only bright news from the Office for National Statistics was a 4,100 fall in the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance last month to 1.46 million.

The unemployment rate is now 7.9 per cent, but for 16 to 24–year–olds it is 20.3 per cent.

There were 157,000 redundancies in the latest quarter, up by 14,000 on the previous three months.

The number of people who have taken retirement before reaching 65 increased by 39,000 to 1.56 million, the highest figure since records began in 1993. Employment fell by 69,000 to 29 million.


Meacher’s fears over jobless
Oldham MP Michael meacher has voiced his fears of a rise in unemployment as Government cuts take hold.

Despite the number of people claiming Job Seekers Allowance in the borough falling by 27 to 6,273 last month, the Oldham West and Royton MP said: “Any drop in JSA is good as it implies more people are back in work. However, the national figures suggest that the tiny drop of 4,100 in JSA nationally is deceptive.

“I fear this is overridden significantly by a 49,000 increase in unemployment. Unemployment is seven per cent in Oldham and I fear this is going to rise further in our area and across the country with the increase in VAT, cuts to benefits and because of the loss of consumer confidence.”

There are 954 jobs being advertised across Job Centre Plus boards in Oldham — an estimated third of all available.