Unemployment rises as recovery falters

THE number of people out of work in Oldham rose last month.

There are 7,187 unemployed people in the borough — a rise of 138 — with the biggest rise in the number of women out of work, up 122 to 2,296.

The number of men on the jobless register rose by only 16 to 4,891, the highest since March.

The country’s jonless total increased by 38,000 after economists had expected a fall of around 10,000. Within the figures, the number of unemployed women hit levels not seen in more than 23 years.

The number of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance showed the biggest monthly rise in more than two years, increasing by 37,100 to 1.56 million people.

Nationally the number of unemployed men increased by 18,000 to 1.45 million, while the jobless women increased by 21,000 to 1.05 million — the highest figure since May, 1988.

The unemployment figures come as George Osborne is rolling out tough public-sector spending cuts — which include hundreds of thousands of job losses.

But recent figures showing sluggish 0.2 per cent growth in the second quarter have raised fears over the strength of the recovery.

Dr Brian Sloan, head of business and economic policy at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said: “Having seen encouraging signs that the labour market was picking up in our last quarterly economic survey this rise in the claimant count is a severe blow. Government must put in place policies that are bold and decisive in order to get the labour market moving again.”


OLDHAM has the fourth highest rate of unemployment in the North-West.
The statistics, released by the GMB union, show that 10.3 per cent of all residents in the borough who are economically active are jobless.

Liverpool came top with 12.8 per cent, while Warrington and Cheshire East has the region’s lowest unemployment rate at 4.9 per cent.

Paul McCarthy, GMB regional secretary, said” “These figures must be a serious cause for concern for both the Government and the communities affected. The GMB’s experience is that the position on the ground is getting worse. With Government getting rid of tens of thousands of public-sector jobs and with the private sector either stalling or going backwards the outlook is very worrying bordering on bleak.”