Unemployment figures on the rise in the county (From Worcester News)

Unemployment figures on the rise in the county

2:00pm Thursday 13th September 2012 in News

THE number of people claiming Jobseekers allowance in Worcestershire has risen, despite a national fall in unemployment.

Last month, 10,607 people in Worcestershire were claiming Jobseekers allowance – compared to 10,545 in July. The figures in Worcestershire include 6,967 men and 3,640 women.

In Worcester, the number of people claiming rose from 2,338 in July to 2,358 in August.

In Malvern Hills, the number rose from 982 to 994, while in Wychavon it rose from 1,704 to 1,747.

The figures in Worcestershire reflect the general trend in the West Midlands where the total rose by 16,000 to 237,000 – a rate of 8.8 per cent.

But according to the Office for National Statistics, the number of people claiming Jobseekers allowance nationally last month was 1.57 million – down by 15,000 on July which is the largest monthly fall since June 2010.

Nationally, the jobless total between May and July fell by 7,000 to 2.59 million – an unemployment rate of 8.1 per cent.

The news comes on the back of the announcement earlier this week that Worcester Bosch is pulling out of the proposed Worcester Technology Park taking with it the creation of up to 1,000 new jobs.

Bosch had been lined up by Worcestershire County Council as the anchor tenant for the first phase of the park.

Double the number of jobs provided by Bosch were expected to be created by other businesses following the firm onto the site.

Speaking about the job figures yesterday, Worcester MP Robin Walker said: “Clearly any increase is a concern, but I think it does need to be looked at in context. There have been a number of months where we have seen the figures come down.

“We are out-performing national trends overall and have been for the last few months.

“We don’t want to see that going into reverse. It’s a reminder to me of the constant need to focus on the economy and focus on creating jobs.

“There’s a concern about long-term structural unemployment if it continues to steadily rise. I think we do need to address it in new ways.

“We need to make sure that there are the proper support packages to help people who are struggling to get back into work,” said the MP.