Unemployment fall welcome, but long way to go yet, says TUC
date: 12 December 2012
embargo: For immediate release
Commenting on the latest labour market figures published today (Wednesday) by the Office for National Statistics, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:
'The recent fall in unemployment is welcome, especially as young people are finally starting to get jobs.
'But there is still a long way to go before our labour market returns to full health. We need a million more jobs to get back to where we were five years ago, and more action to help the quarter of a million young people who have been out of work for at least a year.
'Women, who are bearing the brunt of public sector job losses, will also be concerned that two in three new jobs are going to men.
'The news for those in work is less positive. Wages are still falling in real terms and are forecast to continue shrinking until 2014. This wage squeeze will be tightened further when the Chancellor's fresh welfare cuts to working families take effect.
'We now need strong economic growth to generate a million more jobs and get wages rising again.'
NOTES TO EDITORS:
Employment blackspots by local authority, November 2012
|
Local authority |
Region |
Total claimants |
Vacancies |
Ratio |
|
Hackney |
London |
10,189 |
482 |
21.1 |
|
Isle of Wight |
South East |
3,478 |
168 |
20.7 |
|
Lewisham |
London |
10,146 |
503 |
20.2 |
|
Haringey |
London |
9,724 |
524 |
18.6 |
|
Kingston upon Hull |
Yorkshire and Humber |
14,879 |
1,072 |
13.9 |
|
Waltham Forest |
London |
9,596 |
692 |
13.9 |
|
Middlesbrough |
North East |
7,611 |
557 |
13.7 |
|
Lambeth |
London |
11,836 |
875 |
13.5 |
|
Newham |
London |
11,397 |
907 |
12.6 |
|
Greenwich |
London |
7,989 |
647 |
12.3 |
Source: nomisweb
- A full list of the number of dole claimants and jobcentre vacancies by local authority is available from the press office.
- According to ONS, 266,000 16-24 year olds have been out of work for at least 12 months, including 101,000 who have been out of work for at least 24 months.
- According to ONS, there are 879,000 more unemployed people today (Aug-Oct 2012) than five years ago (Aug-Oct 2007).
- The latest labour market figures are available at www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/december-2012/statistical-bulletin.html
- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk
- Follow the TUC on Twitter: @tucnews
Contacts:
Media enquiries:
Liz Chinchen T: 020 7467 1248 M: 07778 158175 E: media@tuc.org.uk
Rob Holdsworth T: 020 7467 1372 M: 07717 531150 E: rholdsworth@tuc.org.uk
Alex Rossiter T: 020 7467 1337 M: 07887 572130 E: arossiter@tuc.org.uk
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