Annual rise increases focus on youth unemployment in Greater Manchester

Figures released today (16/11/11) show that the overall number of jobseekers allowance claimants has risen by 9,770 (13.5%) in Greater Manchester over the past year.

With national youth unemployment now past the 1 million mark, Greater Manchester saw a slight monthly rise in the number of claimants aged 16-24 of 180 (0.7%) to 27,080 – the highest level since youth unemployment peaked in the wake of the recession, and a level not seen since March 2010.

Baron Frankal, director of economic strategy at New Economy, said: “This is a crisis. However, we need to put this into context and be careful not to panic. In Greater Manchester, we can help to address some of the symptoms of youth unemployment, by introducing more apprenticeships and developing a locally-responsive skills system which incorporates a joined-up approach alongside Work Programme providers. But we mustn’t lose focus on the cause of this: a lack of economic growth.”

“It is in our interest to place Greater Manchester at the head of the pack, by focusing on investment and developing the region’s strengths, like science, research, tourism, healthcare and media. The BBC’s move, Manchester City Football Club’s European progress and the potential to rapidly commercialise scientific achievements such as the discovery of Graphene are global-level examples of what Manchester does best -we need more of these stories to create further economic opportunities.

“If the Government really wants growth, it needs to notice what places like Manchester are doing, and change the system so that we can properly work together to generate growth in places that actually have the evidenced potential to generate it. The enduring and worsening youth unemployment situation makes the case for this stronger than anything. “

John Holden, deputy director of economic strategy at New Economy, said: “Unfortunately today’s news doesn’t come as a surprise and the UK’s ongoing rise in unemployment is reflected in Greater Manchester’s figures. The increase has been steady for several months and it currently shows no sign of slowing down.

“It’s important that we don’t take comfort in the fact that this is a national issue and therefore presume it is beyond our control. At a local level, we have the potential to make a difference – this is why New Economy is supporting the North West Youth Employment Convention which takes place next week in Manchester.

“We’ve recently set up the Greater Manchester Skills and Employment Partnership with the support of the LEP and we will continue to do everything in our power to address the current trend in rising unemployment.”

One in four youth claimants in Greater Manchester have been out of work for more than 6 months – up from one in six this time last year.

Compared with September 2011, unemployment has decreased slightly in Greater Manchester. The number of jobseeker’s allowance (JSA) claimants in Greater Manchester fell by 225 and was recorded at 82,085 in October 2011 – a monthly fall of 0.3. National and regional JSA numbers also fell from September to October – by 0.9 and 1.1% respectively.

All districts in Greater Manchester saw a monthly fall in JSA claimants except Manchester and Tameside where there were increases of 0.1% and 1.1% respectively; in Bolton also there was no change in the number of claimants. The district with the largest proportional fall was Oldham, where the number of claimants fell by 125 (1.6%) accounting for more than half of the fall seen across Greater Manchester.

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