Positive news as job queues shorten for fifth month in a row

Figures released today show that job queues shortened in all districts across Greater Manchester last month, the fifth successive month that unemployment has fallen across the area, and continued good news for the local economy.

The number of jobseeker’s allowance claimants in Greater Manchester fell by 2,767 to 74,446 in June 2010 – a fall of 3.6% on May’s figures. Jobseeker’s allowance claimants decreased in Greater Manchester at a slightly lower rate than the national average, which fell by 3.9% this month. 4.6% of Greater Manchester’s working age population are now claiming unemployment benefit, down from 4.8% last month.

Manchester’s Commission for the New Economy estimate that total unemployment in Greater Manchester – which differs from the jobseeker’s allowance count as not all unemployed people claim benefits – fell over the last quarter to 124,460 between March and May, a reduction of around 1.8% . Comparatively, total unemployment has fallen nationally by 1.4%.

Figures released simultaneously by Jobcentre Plus show that the number of vacancies reported to them in Greater Manchester has increased by more than half (51.5% ) compared with June 2009, higher than the national increase of 29.8%.

Chris Pope, Senior Economic Analyst at New Economy said:

“That unemployment has fallen for five successive months is a positive sign of the resurgent strength of Greater Manchester’s economy. However our forecasts show that unemployment is likely to remain high for the foreseeable future as growth remains sluggish across the UK. Public sector cuts will also place upwards pressure on unemployment in the short term at least, even though Manchester is less reliant on public sector jobs than other major UK cities. It will be important that the right support is provided to the private sector so that they can take up the slack in the medium term.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

New Economy is the economic development commission for Greater Manchester. Our purpose is to create economic growth and prosperity for the people of Greater Manchester. We are committed to working with our partners to lead, influence and innovate; creating a better economy. From strategy to research, project management and consultancy, everything we do has one aim in mind. To make Greater Manchester a better place to live and work.

New Economy makes a difference by:

• Developing economic intelligence
• Helping to create jobs and improve skills
• Saving money and increasing efficiencies
• Increasing investment and enterprise
• Playing our part in reducing carbon emissions

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, which is chaired by Mike Blackburn of BT and includes most of the AGMA authority leaders. The other commissions are health, public protection, planning and housing, transport, environment and improvement and efficiency.