Drop in Wirral unemployment (From Wirral Globe)

Drop in Wirral unemployment

3:40pm Thursday 13th September 2012 in News By Craig Manning

THE number claiming Job Seekers’ Allowance across Wirral fell last month, according to figures out this week.

According to Office for National Statistics 8,524 people claimed the benefit in August, compared to 8,648 the previous month, meaning a drop of 124.

The number of claimants in Birkenhead fell by 20 to 3,506 from 3,529 the previous month.

Wirral South saw a drop of 21 to 1,141, claimants fell by four in Wirral West taking the figure from 1,105 to 1,101 and in Wallasey was reduced by more than 100 from 2,860 to 2,776.

Nationally, the number of people out of work dropped by 7,000 to 2.59m in the three months to July compared with the previous three-month period.

Cllr. Pat Hackett, Wirral Council cabinet member for regeneration and planning, said:

“Wirral’s Jobseekers allowance claimant rate continues to be the lowest in the Liverpool City Region.

"Since August of 2011, we have seen a reduction of 598 claimants. Although this exceeds the regional and national averages, we will continue our efforts to make Wirral the most business-friendly borough and develop more employment opportunities.”

Wirral South MP Alison McGovern said: "I welcome the modest drop in job seekers allowance claimants this month.

"But I remain concerned about the number of people on out-of-work benefits for longer than 12 months.

"This month these figures in Wirral have increased yet again, up two per cent on last month, and 128 per cent on this time last year.

"People cannot get jobs without opportunities, and the longer they're out of work, the harder it is for them to get back into jobs.

"The government needs to fix their mess quickly so more people aren’t left languishing on the dole."

The unemployment rate was 8.1%, down 0.1% on the previous quarter.