Unemployment shows a fall

Unemployment figures on the Fylde coast showed a small decline last month as the easing of the economy allowed firms to take on more staff.
Unemployment is falling in the area. Below: MPs Gordon Marsden and Paul MaynardUnemployment is falling in the area. Below: MPs Gordon Marsden and Paul Maynard
Unemployment is falling in the area. Below: MPs Gordon Marsden and Paul Maynard

In the North West, unemployment fell by 29,000 in the three months to October, official figures have revealed.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that a total of 257,000 people were unemployed in the region between August and October.

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Nationally, the Government was given a pre-Christmas boost on the jobs front when national unemployment fell by almost 100,000 and the number of people in work topped 30 million for the first time on record.

MP Gordon MarsdenMP Gordon Marsden
MP Gordon Marsden

In the Blackpool North and Cleveleys constituency 2,085 were registered as claiming Job Seekers Allowance, 4.1 per cent of the population down 0.9 per cent on the same period last year.

In Blackpool South, 2,855 were caliming, 5.6 per cnet of the population, down 1.3 per cent on last year. In Fylde the figure was 970, 1.9 per cent and 0.2 per cent down on last year.

Lancaster and Fleetwood’s figures were 1,334, 2.2 percent down 0.5 per cent, Wyre and Preston North were 573, 1 per cent, down 0.2 per cent.

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Blackpool South MP Grodon Marsden said while any decrease in unemployment was welcome the figures hid the problem of people getting jobs with not enough hours.

MP Paul MaynardMP Paul Maynard
MP Paul Maynard

He said: “In Blackpool, South we are still 51st highest unemployment in the country and the JSA count is still nearly twice what it is country wide so we are not seeing the full benefit of any jobs recovery.

“The large number of people who have part time worokers losing hours is a real problem. Talking to employers across the Fylde there is a lack of demand which means they can’t give some workers the number of hours they want or indeed need.”

Blackpool North and Cleveleys MP Paul Marsden said: “We yet again see a drop in year on year unemployment in Blackpool North & Cleveleys, a fall of 1.1 per cent down to 5.5 per cent of the economically activity population of the constituency.

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“Nationally we have seen unemployment fall to 7.4 per cent with over 30 million people now in jobs – a national record. We knew recovering from Labour’s recession was not going to be easy, and it has been tough, but I think we can all now see the benefits of Plan A with jobs up, exports up, manufacturing up, inflation down with wages rising.”

Lynn Collins, NW TUC regional secretary, said: “We welcome the fall in unemployment but we need to make sure people are getting the work they need, there are nearly 1.5 million people working part time when they need full time.”

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