Unemployment continues to fall into April

Figures released today show that unemployment fell in Greater Manchester last month, the third successive month that jobs queues have shortened.

The number of jobseeker’s allowance claimants in Greater Manchester fell by 1,820 to 80,480 in April 2010. This is a fall of 2.2% on March, but the figure is still 3.3% up on last year. Jobseeker’s allowance claimants decreased in Greater Manchester at a slightly lower rate than both the national and regional averages which both fell by 2.9% . 5.0% of Greater Manchester’s working age population are now claiming unemployment benefit, down from 5.1% last month.

Figures released simultaneously by Jobcentre Plus show that the number of vacancies reported to them in Greater Manchester increased to 16,560, up over 36% on this time last year, significantly higher than the regional (19% ) and national (25%) increases.

John Holden, head of strategic research at Manchester’s Commission for the New Economy said:
“Falling unemployment combined with an increasing number of vacancies paints a positive economic picture for the city region. However, the headline figures obscure some important detail. Particularly worrying is that, against a national and regional fall, youth unemployment has risen in the past year in Greater Manchester and there are now almost 26,000 young people aged 18-24 claiming jobseeker’s allowance. Long-term unemployment – those claiming benefit for over a year – is also increasing rapidly, having trebled from 5,000 a year ago to 15,000 today. Continuing measures such as the Future Jobs Fund and investment in apprenticeships will be vitally important in tackling these issues.”

ENDS.

NOTES TO EDITORS

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• Manchester’s Commission for the New Economy has been established to strategically co-ordinate the work in the field of economic development, employment and skills in the area of the ten AGMA Local Authorities (the Association for Greater Manchester Authorities, made up of the local authorities of Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan).

• The Commission for the New Economy is one of seven such commissions created as part of the new governance arrangements for Greater Manchester. Its operations are overseen by a private sector-majority board chaired by Mike Blackburn of BT, which includes most of the AGMA authority leaders. The others are health, public protection, planning and housing, transport, environment and improvement and efficiency.