TUC publishes gloomy employment figures for North East

The Trades Union Congress has published figures which show that the number of job seekers in the North East and Cumbria has increased by a third since 2010

Analysis from the manifesto, entitled Northern TUC 10 Point Plan for a Northern Future that Works, shows that each Local Authority area has at least 10% more jobseekers.

The manifesto, which will be launched at the Regional Conference on 13-14 April, includes figures which show County Durham and Darlington seeing a rise in jobseekers of more than 30%.

Northumberland is the worst affected according to these TUC figures, with a rise of 37% since June 2010.

The TUC claims that there are 7.5 jobseekers per job vacancy in the North East and four times as many jobseekers as there are vacancies in Cumbria.

According to the report, 50,000 public sector jobs have been lost and the employment rate across the regions stands at just 64%.

The number of jobseekers by local authority area is gathered monthly by Nomis Labour Market statistics using ONS claimant count data.

Northern TUC measured the difference in monthly jobseekers by local authority area from June 2010-Feb 2013.

To address these gloomy figures, the Northern TUC document suggests that increased investment will boost short term economic recovery and long term prosperity.

The solutions laid out in the document will be picked up at the upcoming Regional Conference and integrated into the Work Programme for the next two years.

The TUC state they will campaign for the Government to do more to support green infrastructure.

They also claim that the Government, Local Enterprise partnerships and all bodies charged with preparing economic and industiral strategies should ensure that employment is at the heart of growth plans.

The document suggests that working with a greater number of employers to ensure that training and skills development lies at the heart of economic recovery and growth in the North.

Kevin Rowan, Northern TUC Regional Secretary said: “These figures show the ongoing failure of this Government’s economic policy and the challenge for this region and all of us who want to see the north east and Cumbria grow and prosper.

“There is much work to be done and trade unions are up for the challenge, already playing a major role in securing the Hitachi development in Newton Aycliffe and working day in and day out in both workplaces and communities.

“Growing high quality jobs and sustainable work is top of our agenda, let’s just hope the Coalition follows suit.”

Looking to promote your product/service to SME businesses in your region? Find out how Bdaily can help →