Unemployment slightly down – but claimant count up
Official figures show the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s allowance has risen to the highest level since 1997, as the unemployment figure falls by 3,000.
The claimant count for January rose by 23,500 in January to 1.64 million, its highest total since Labour came to power, figures from the Office for National Statistics have revealed.
The number of people out of work for more than a year also rose, by 37,000 between October and December to 663,000, also the highest figure since 1997.
The figure covers students, people looking after a sick relative, or those who have given up looking for work.
However the unemployment level between October and December fell by 3,00 to 2.46 million. It is the second successive monthly fall in unemployment.
Last month, the figure fell by 7,000 to 2.46 million, below the three million mark many analysts had predicted. It was the first fall for 18 months.
“The figures reinforce the need to continue support for the unemployed as we look to secure the recovery.” Jim Knight, employment minister
Jim Knight, the employment minister, welcomed the figures: “Naturally I am pleased for the second consecutive month we have seen a fall in the headline rate of unemployment, but I remain concerned about the increase in the numbers claiming jobseekers allowance and that re-enforces the need to continue support for the unemployed as we look to secure the recovery we are starting to see coming through.”
Liberal Democrat work and pensions spokesman Steve Webb said: “Record numbers of people out of work for more than a year is the Government’s dreaded landmark.”
These people will be the hardest to help back into work when the economy recovers and risk never coming off benefits. Ministers need to help people far sooner rather than leaving them without specialist support for over a year.
Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Theresa May said: “People are still really feeling the impact out there of the recession.
“What we must do is make sure that we don’t endanger jobs and growth in the future and that means having a credible plan for the deficit.
Youth figures
Today’s figures also recorded a drop in the number of 18 to 24-year olds out of work, down 13,000 in the three months between October and December to stand at 725,000.
It would suggest some good news for the government following growing concern about growing levels of youth unemployment last year.
However, writing on the Channel 4 News website, David Blanchflower, a former member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) warned Britain faced a “national crisis” about youth unemployment.
“There are simply a lot of young people arriving onto the labour market in the midst of a recession and there aren’t jobs for them,” he wrote.
Channel 4 News reporter Stephanie West met teenagers who have been through school during the new Labour years, when “education, education, education'” was the mantra in Westminster.
They will be able to vote for the first time in this year’s general election.
Stevan Andjelkovic is 19 and from Cheltenham. He left his comprehensive school last year with 12 GCSEs, four A-S Levels and three A-Levels.
His school was keen for him to go to university, but he could not find a course that suited him and decided to look for a skilled trade instead.
Stevan is now half way through a three-year apprenticeship in plumbing, heating and mechanical engineering, learning a wide range of skills, from fitting hand basins to installing solar panels.
He says becoming an apprentice has been one of the best decisions he has ever made – and gives the Labour government credit for creating an education system that “presents us with amazing opportunities”.
But Stevan feels schools could be doing a better job of promoting apprenticeships in a country that is facing skills shortages.
Ioan Glyn-Cross is also 19 and from Llantrisant in the Rhondda, a region of south Wales where 18- to 24-year-olds make up nearly 40 per cent of the total unemployed.
He left comprehensive school at 16 with two GCSEs and has has worked as a cleaner, for the Royal Mint and a supermarket chain.
Ioan is currently on a 13-week Prince’s Trust training scheme, learning how to write CVs and prepare for interviews.
He is keen to study at university and become a teacher.