People in Borough Claim Jobseeker's Allowance

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Grayling: rise in employment welcome but we must press ahead with vital welfare reforms

The increase in employment is a step in the right direction, but our priority is to support all of those five million on out of work benefits who have the potential to work into jobs, Employment Minister Chris Grayling said today.

The latest employment figures published by the Office for National Statistics show that employment has risen by 178,000 and unemployment fell by 20,000 this month. However, Ministers are clear that the UK economy still faces significant challenges ahead and it must continue to tackle the deficit and create an environment where businesses can flourish and create jobs.

The slight increase in the number claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance this month shows that Government is right to press ahead with its new Work Programme, which will offer personalised, tailored support to get people into jobs quickly.

Today’s figures come alongside the start of the drive to help those left behind on incapacity benefits (IB) back into work.  Reassessments of people claiming IB started earlier this week in Burnley and Aberdeen and will roll out nationwide next April.

Chris Grayling said:

“Another rise in employment is a step in the right direction but clearly our priority is to get the economy motoring again, reduce the deficit and make the UK an attractive place for investment to encourage growth.

“We are pressing ahead with radically overhauling the welfare system, with reassessments of those on incapacity benefits in Burnley and Aberdeen beginning this week. From early next year our Work Programme will come into force to ensure that long term unemployed people and others who need it have tailored support to move them into sustained work.”

Government has already taken steps to remove National Insurance for small employers, establish the regional growth fund and reduce corporation tax to make the UK attractive to oversees investors and drive up private sector employment. 

The number of people in work rose this quarter

·       29.16 million people were in work in June to August.
·       the employment level in June-August was 178 thousand higher than in the previous three months, and up 241 thousand on the year.
·       the employment rate is 70.7%, up 0.2 percentage points on the quarter but unchanged on the year.

The number of people on JSA rose slightly this month and there are nearly 5 million people in total claiming one of the main out-of-work benefits :

·       claimant unemployment was 1,473.1 thousand in September 2010, up 5.3 thousand on the level in August, and down 144.1 thousand on the year. 
·       the claimant unemployment rate, at 4.5%, is unchanged on the month and down 0.4 percentage points on the year.
·       in the year to February 2010, the number of people claiming employment support allowance/incapacity benefits rose by 11,220 to 2.61 million. More recent provisional estimates for August 2010 suggest the position has since remained broadly stable.
·       in the year to February 2010, the number receiving lone parent benefits fell 44,020 to 692.0 thousand. Provisional figures for August 2010 suggest the number of claimants has fallen further in recent months, to 670,000.

The level of economic inactivity is down on the quarter and up on the year

The number of vacancies and the number of redundancies both fell this quarter

Total weekly pay in June-August was up by 1.7% over the year

     
       

October 17, 2010