Jobless total highest for 14 years

THE number of people claiming out of work benefits in Oldham has hit a 14-year high.

Official monthly figures for August show there are 7,340 people claiming Job seekers’ Allowance (JSA) across the borough — up 375 on the previous month and almost 3,000 more than a year ago.

The figures represent 5.4 per cent of the working population, compared with the national average of 4.2 per cent.

A breakdown of yesterday’s figures reveal that of the 7,340 claimants — 1,780 of them women — one in three (2,640) is aged 18-24. A further 3,780 are aged 25-49 and 920 are over 50.

Nationally JSA claimants rose by 24,400 to 1.6 million.

Peter Heginbotham, president of Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said: “This is obviously disappointing news for the region, with unemployment figures rising across all boroughs without exception.

“History tells us that unemployment continues to rise during a recovery period but what is disappointing about the increase, quite apart from the effect on each individual, is that this is despite businesses and employees being much more inventive in this recession, preferring reduced hours, job-sharing and other initiatives to job losses.”

Employment Minister Jim Knight said: “We will not let people down in these tough times.

“The figures show that families across Britain are still being affected by the world recession and make clear how important it is to keep up the investment to get people back into work.

“The actions we have taken in recent months are starting to pay off.

“The number of people who have been claiming Jobseekers Allowance for up to six months has been declining in recent months, and around 70 per cent of claimants are leaving benefit within that time.”