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600 more unemployed in a month
WIGAN’S jobless total rocketed by almost 600 last month.
And one of the biggest rises in decades included the number of under-25s out of work also increasing significantly.
Council leader Lord Smith today laid the blame for these “bad figures” squarely at the Government’s door but offered a truce with it in order to create new local posts.
But it is not all gloom. The number of Jobseekers’ Allowance claimants is lower than it was this time last year - 6.12 per cent compared with 6.55 - and there has been a 21 per cent hike in Job Centre vacancies.
Unemployment in Greater Manchester is at an all-time high though with 86,240 JSA claimants in January: up 4,266 on the month before.
In Wigan, there were 9,625 claimants last month compared with 9,036 in December. Among 16 to 24-year-olds the figure rose by 160 from 2,930 to 3,090: more than a third of the borough’s unemployed.
Lord Smith said: “These are bad figures, there’s no hiding from that and they are obviously the result of the Government’s economic policy which is badly affecting areas like Wigan.
“They keep saying they are going to do something to help but they particularly need to be doing more to help young people find a first job.
“We are willing to put aside political differences to work with the Government to do something about this. We should be having a bigger programme to help young people and money spent on infrastructure which will help in the short term to get people into work and attract new industries and employment in the long term.”
Miranda Barker, Greater Manchester Chamber’s Wigan President, offered some comfort today though.
She said: “It does not make very nice reading but January is one of the most difficult times of the year historically. Yet compared with last year we are doing much better with JSA claimants, including under-25s, there are 21 per cent more vacancies in job centres and although the position doesn’t look great, Wigan still has the lowest annual increase in unemployment in the whole of Greater Manchester.”
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Friday 25 May 2012
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Comments
There are 22 comments to this article
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Truth Advocate
Friday, February 24, 2012 at 10:57 AMrazzle76: sorry cant use the website as there is no dividing \ slash and nor have you search words to title. ---------- as to rich economy - money generated on non-jobs is a ponzi-scheme, money just being shuffled around thats why it always filters upwards and when there is a crash it is the poor at the bottom who pays for it
Truth Advocate
Friday, February 24, 2012 at 10:36 AMrazzle76: sorry cant use the website as there is no dividing \ slash and nor have you search words to title. ---------- as to rich economy - money generated on non-jobs is a ponzi-scheme, money just being shuffled around thats why it always filters upwards and when their is a crash it is the poor at the bottom who pays for it
razzle76
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 10:54 AMhttp:www.aneki.comcountries2.php?t=Richest_Countries_in_the_World&table=fb126&places=0=*&order=desc&orderby=fb126.value&decimals=--&dependency=independent&number=all&cntdn=asc&r=-78-80-81-82-83-84-85-86-87-88-89-90-91-92-93-94-95-96&c=&measures=Country--GDP&units=--$&file=richest Check it out we're the 7th richest country in the world. The problem is we're not sharing the wealth. There are 62 million people in the UK (http:www.channel4.comnewsbritains-foreign-aid-budget-money-well-spent) this article shows we give away 11.5 Billion whilst making cuts at home. We have all this money to donate and more besides to fund ongoing conflicts whilst crying poverty at home. This is just a political devise to push forward his politics. When you say there are limited resources it flushes out all the bigots and fascists who think they are more entitled to those resources than say those foreigners or the malingerers. In fact there's enough money generated by this country to look after everybody. Nice to see all the bigots using this story to hang their prejudices on!
Truth Advocate
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 10:52 AMPending Moderation
Truth Advocate
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 10:51 AMPending Moderation
Truth Advocate
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 10:46 AMAs to “blame” - Labour resulted in the state of the economy, that build an empire of public sector non-jobs, overpaid fatcat management, pseudo charities, while letting industry contract more so than any other decade since the war - Brown was responsible for deregulated the profiteering banks late 90s, messing up the legal systems, so the blame lies with Labour !
Truth Advocate
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 10:46 AMPending Moderation
Truth Advocate
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 10:43 AMPending Moderation
Truth Advocate
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 09:59 AMOn comment No 10, BF: in contrast, both employer, employees and unemployed all “KNOW” and have direct experience of how useless the jobcentre staff are to being a complete waste of time, overpaid and being a hindrance to gainful employment - feel free to prove me wrong with and astound me with their success – instead of decades of failure after failure of parasitical overpaid fatcat cronies who basically do nothing but gimmicks and leaflets and live off the backs of the poor !
Truth Advocate
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 09:57 AMCouncillor Smith’s “Bad” figures are under-represented, I can personally prove that Jobcentre Plus are fiddling their figures, denying services and cheating people of money !
Removed by moderator
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 12:16 PMThe economy should be managed for the benefit of the nation. At present we are enslaved to laissez-faire globalism, which means that British workers must compete against those in China and India who work for as little as a pound a day............... Oriental countries such as Japan, South Korea and Singapore have managed their economies to combine private enterprise competition with the national good....
Removed by moderator
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 12:11 PMGlobalisation has caused the export of jobs and industries to the Far East, and has brought ruin and unemployment to British industries and the communities who depend on them........ the selective exclusion of foreign-made goods from British markets and the reduction of foreign imports. We will ensure that our manufactured goods are, wherever possible, produced in British factories, employing British workers.
B. Fletcher
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 06:54 AMThere are many new JSA claimants who have been thrown off long term sickness benefit (ESA) following medical examinations where it has been found they are actually capable of work. I'm sure that we all know of people who are purportedly sick and who have been receiving benefits for year but seem to be reasonably fit.
working for EU and IMF Greece needs all our cash
Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 06:50 PMboy have Liabour got a lot to answer for !! open door policy let all the legal and illegals in !! spend spend like it's water ? very fine when the grass is green !! and now it's t*t's up left with a massive debt and ever increasing tax and utility's bill's. the big firms laying off, but still making millions but no cherry. get rid off a few thousand and we will have a nice bonuses for our troubles. it's big businesses causing some of our problems laying staff off that could have a positive impact rather than a DWP impact. a vicious downward spiral. and the policy's in Australia they saved in the good times !! no debt there. and illegals no human rights issues booted straight out no messing Cheers War Monger Blair !! nice too see you have lined you pockets to the tune of millions in them after dinner speeches.
leviticus
Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 05:52 PMfingolfin, who blamed the immigrants ? i blamed the systematic failure of the previous labour government to get the people already in the country into work because it suited it's party political agenda, which was not in the best interests of the country
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