Employment at record high nationally but Fylde coast sees rise in people on benefits

UK employment jumped to a record high in the three months to December as more women entered employment, new figures revealed.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

However, the increase in employment came as wage growth continued to stall and the number of people claiming work related benefits on the Fylde coast such as Universal Credit continued to rise.

The number of people in work nationally increased by 180,000 to 32.93 million in the quarter, as the number of people deemed economically inactive also shrank, the Office for National Statistics said. It announced an increase of 150,000 women in work for the quarter.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

More women became self-employed, the ONS said, as the proportion of women who are self-employed hit a record high.

Employment nationally, including part time work and zero hours contracts has risen to a new recordEmployment nationally, including part time work and zero hours contracts has risen to a new record
Employment nationally, including part time work and zero hours contracts has risen to a new record

Total earnings increased by 2.9 per cent in December, slowing from 3.2 per cent growth the previous month. Unemployment also fell over the period, by 16,000 to 1.29 m.

But the number of local people claiming benefits rose once more.

In the Blackpool North and Cleveleys constituency, 2,535 people claimed up 1.4 per cent. In Blackpool South it was 3,800 up 2.5 per cent, in Fylde 1,130 up 0,.8 per cent, in Lncaster and Fleetwood, 1,725, up 0.7 per cent and in Wyre, 680, up 0.4 per cent.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Myrto Miltiadou, ONS deputy head of labour market statistics, said: "Employment has continued its upward trend, with the rate nudging up to another record high.

"In particular, the number of women working full-time grew strongly over the past year.

"In real terms, regular earnings have finally risen above the level seen in early 2008, but pay including bonuses is still below its pre-downturn peak."

Although employment was at a record high, unions complained that this included a huge rise in zero hours contracts where people did not have the benefits of the protections and extras full time employees have.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The GMB union expressed outrage after the ONS figures showed almost 1 million were on zero hours contracts after a sharp rise.

It said the figure of 974,000 represented an increase of 130,000 (or 15.4 per cent) compared to the same point last year - the highest figure on record.

Tim Roache, GMB General Secretary, said: “Companies are using zero hours contracts as a business model to avoid their responsibilities to the people who make them their money - these figures show that’s on the rise.

“On a zero hours contract you don’t know what wage you’ll have coming in from week to week, you don’t know if you can pay the bills or buy the shopping and you cant say boo to a goose or you won’t get any hours the week after.

“Enough is enough, it’s time to follow the successful policies of other countries and ban these contracts once and for all.”