Unemployment across the South West has risen by more than 10% in the past year, according to figures today from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
More than 90,000 people aged over 16 in the region were claiming unemployment benefit in November, the ONS said, up from 81,000 in the same month last year and up from 89,500 in October.
Across the UK the number of people out of work and claiming benefit three months to October rose by 128,000 to 2.638m – its highest level for more than 17 years, although the pace of new benefit claims appears to be levelling off.
Youth unemployment rose to 1.027m, the highest since records began in 1992, beating the previous record set only last month. The unemployment rate among 16 to 24-year-olds rose from 20.8% to 22% in the three months to October.
Martina Milburn, chief executive of the Prince’s Trust youth charity, told the BBC: “Too many young lives are being wasted in the dole queue.
“It is frightening to think that more than two-fifths of unemployed young people have been jobless for more than six months.
“Long-term unemployed young people are the most vulnerable, with many trapped in a vicious cycle of joblessness, anxiety and depression.”
The government has been hoping that job creation in the private rise would compensate for job losses in public services – yet today’s figures show 67,000 job losses in the public sector, with the private sector adding just 5,000 jobs over the same period.
However, the unemployment rate held steady at 8.3%, in contrast to economists’ expectations for a rise to 8.4%.
Some 3,000 people joined the dole queue in November – well below the 14,900 forecast by economists – and the ONS revised down its October figure to 2,500 from 5,300.
Employment minister Chris Grayling told Sky News: “There’s certainly an unemployment challenge for us, nobody doubts that. My view is that any level of unemployment is too high so we’ve got a big job on our hands.”
