West Lancs unemployment falls to lowest level in 18 months – but challenges still remain

UNEMPLOYMENT in West Lancashire has dropped to its lowest level in 18 months.

Statistics released this weel show the number of people claiming Job Seekers’ Allowance is now 3.9%, – down from a peak of 5% the same time 12 months ago.

The Office for National Statistics records that in April, 4.4% of people were out of work, in May it was down to 4.1% and in June in dropped further to 3.9%.

I’ve blogged regularly on the issue of unemployment in West Lancashire, and whilst these figures are encouraging, there must be no room for complacency.

Ensuring that the recovery is private-sector led is the right decision by the Coalition Government as it ensures that we build a strong local economy, something which I’ve also blogged about in the past.

Certainly in West Lancashire, we need a more diverse economy ensuring that if one sector hits problems, there is an inbuilt flexibility to ‘take the strain’, providing more opportunities for local people in the process.

And of course, we still have pockets of high unemployment, so we need to focus on these areas to ensure people are given the right skills and training to fullfill their potential.

West Lancs unemployment higher now than in June 1997

OVER the past few months, I’ve blogged about the unemployment figures for West Lancashire.

But seeing as we’re slap bang in the middle of a General Election, I thought I’d look back to 1997 to make a straight comparison.

Labour came to power in May 1997 and the following month, the unemployment figures were released showing that, here in West Lancs, 4.3% of people were out of work.

Fast forward to today and that figure is now higher at 4.6%

Indeed, if you take the North West as a whole, unemployment is slightly higher now than in June 1997 (4.7% compared with 4.6% back then).

Of course, since 1997 we’ve had a massive boom followed by an unprecedented bust which raised the amount of people claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance to 5.1% locally.

However, as I’ve said in previous posts, these ‘headline’ figures hide a much starker reality in that there are parts of West Lancs which have unemployment rates of double that, and they’re usually in the more deprived areas.

Take the following current rates, which are all above the national average:

- Digmoor (12.7%)
- Tanhouse (11.5%)
- Birch Green (9.4%)
- Moorside (8.9%)

Speaking about the national picture, reports out today show that unemployment is at a 16 year high at 2.5 million.

We’re also told that over one in four working age adults doesn’t have a job, with the number of ‘economically inactive’ people – people who have dropped out of the jobs market altogether – at a record high.

Coupled with the other news this week that inflation has now risen sharply to 3.4% (or 4.4% for the Retail Prices Index, which includes housing costs), it will certainly give voters food for thought as voters prepare to ‘make their mark’ on their ballot papers on May 6th.

Unemployment remains static in West Lancs despite UK fall

UNEMPLOYMENT in West Lancashire has remained static despite the fall nationally.

The proportion on people on Job Seekers’ Allowance for February stayed at 4.8% – the same as it was in January but more than it was in December (4.6%).

There are also more people on JSA in West Lancs compared with this time last year, when the rate was 4.4%.

You may remember last month I mentioned that some news outlets were using the total umemployment figures instead of the JSA claimant count.

The difference is that whereas the JSA rates show only people who are actively seeking work, total unemployment includes those who may not be actively seeking work but are in receipt of some kind of state benefit, such as bereavement benefit, carer’s allowance, disability living allowance, incapacity benefit, severe disablement allowance, income support, jobseeker’s allowance, and widow’s benefit.

Unfortunately, I cannot seem to find up to date figures on this but back in August, total unemploymemy was at 18.1%. If anyone can find more up to date info on this, please do drop me a line.

Unemployment back on the rise in West Lancashire

OFFICIAL figures out this morning show that unemployment is back up in West Lancashire.

The Job Seekers’ Allowance claimant count rose by 0.2 per cent between December and January to 4.8%, according to the Office of National Statistics.

Unemployment in West Lancs as a whole had been getting higher since until last summer where it peaked at 5.1%.

Since then, it has been steadily dropping, so a re-emergence of a rising claimant count will confirm many people’s fears that we could be experiencing a “double dip” in unemployment, as is expected with the overall UK economy. Over the next few months, we’ll have a clearer idea whether this is going to happen.

As you can see from the graph above, in West Lancs our claimant count has always been higher per percentage of our population compared with Great Britain as a whole, so we feel the effects here more acutely.

Of course, these figures hide a multitude of sins – for instance, 31% of JSA claimants are 18-24 year olds. And in Digmoor – one of the most deprived council wards in the area – it rose by 1 percent to 13.4%, more than 3 times the national average.

Worrying times indeed…

UPDATE: Interesting the BBC spinning the national story which they say shows a fall in total unemployment, and buiried in the fourth paragraph is the fact that the JSA claimaint count has gone up. JSA figures have always been used as a barometer of the jobs market as it shows worklessness among people who are able to work, while ‘total unemployment’ usually includes those on long term benefits who do not qualify for JSA. One wonders why the Beeb has effectively moved the goalposts on this important issue…?

Unemployment shows we need a brave new outlook

THE jobless total for 25-49 year olds in West Lancashire has risen again, new figures reveal.

More than 54% of those on Jobseeker’s Allowance are in this age bracket, a figure that has been creeping up (save for a couple of fluctuations) for almost a year.

In Tanhouse, a staggering 65.7% of 25-49 year olds of who are able to work are on JSA.

Government statistics show that the total of JSA claimants here stands at 4.6%, the smallest drop possible on the previous month (which was 4.7%) but still higher that February 2009 when it was 4.4%.

In terms of the overall JSA count, Digmoor is still bearing the brunt of the recession with an eyewatering 12.4% of people out of work – around three times greater than the national average.

These figures are pretty startling and show that whatever bounce there was in the boom years has hardly been sustained, and we’ve reverted back to the same old story of high unemployment in Skelmersdale. 18-24 year olds in West Lancs still account for almost a third of all JSA claimants – a figure which has barely shifted in the past 14 years.

You may remember a few months back, I posted on here a copy of my letter to Gordon Brown about the future of Skelmersdale Vision. In the letter, I made a broad point about the need for new jobs in Skelmersdale.

This is now a very important time for the area, and we need to foster a new economy fit for the 21st Century. In West Lancs, we tend to have an over reliance on some sectors, and the problem with that is that it’s akin to sticking all your eggs in one basket.

Recent studies have shown the need for West Lancs to diversify, pointing to the fact that we are uniquely constrained by the massive amount of Green Belt we have.

I’m not suggesting burying all our green pastures under a million tonnes of Tarmac, but these employment figures show that if we don’t be brave and do something soon, we are going to be stuck in this sorry cycles of unemployment and the deprivation which comes with it.

UPDATE: As if by magic, this article appeared in the local press today and echoes my own sentiments. Maybe it’s sign…