Member Article

Further reduction in JSA claimants across Greater Manchester and region as a whole

Latest figures show that 44,600 people were claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) in Greater Manchester in September – a decrease of 2,300 (4.8%) when compared with the figure for August 2014 of just under 47,000.

The North West saw a monthly decline of 4.5%, while for Great Britain the fall was 4.1%. As a proportion of the resident working-age population, 2.5% of people in Greater Manchester were claiming JSA in September – remaining higher than the North West (2.4%) and Great Britain (2.2%).

Youth unemployment (JSA claimants aged 16-24) in Greater Manchester decreased on a monthly basis between August and September, falling by 360 to around 10,200. On an annual basis, the number of youth JSA claimants is 46.8% (9,000) lower than this time last year.

Long-term (6 months+) claimants in Greater Manchester declined in September 2014 to 20,700, down by 1,500 (6.7%) on the August figure. On an annual basis the number of long-term claimants is now 40.4% (14,100) lower than this time last year. The North West (37.2%) and Great Britain (34.9%) also saw annual declines in long-term claimants.

Stephen Overell, principal for employment and skills at New Economy, said: “September’s data shows the trend of substantial and steady monthly falls in the JSA claimant count has continued into the autumn, with Greater Manchester moving people off benefits at a faster rate than the rest of the country.

“While on the face of it this looks like strong evidence of recovery, there is more going on behind these figures than is immediately obvious. JSA claimant count data in Greater Manchester is becoming an increasingly unreliable indicator of the health of the labour market.

“This is because the people who are claiming the government’s new flagship benefit - universal credit, which is being introduced in the North West before roll out to the rest of the country - are not being counted as unemployed, even though the vast majority of them are.

“For most of the last year, this has only affected four job centres in Greater Manchester. But as of September 2014, 11 job centres are involved in moving claimants over to universal credit.

“This is distorting the local measurement of unemployment, as areas which are using universal credit are seeing disproportionately large drops in the claimant count.

“Until the government works out how to count universal credit claimants on out of work benefits, JSA data risks offering increasingly misleading insight into what’s happening in the jobs market.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .