Against the national trend that saw a decrease in unemployment in the UK between October and December 2012 of 14,000, taking the total down to 2.5m, and a reduction in the claimant count in January 2013 of 12,500 to 1.54m, the claimant count in Worcestershire increased by 505 to 10,359, or 3% of the 16-64 population. This, though, is still 1,045 lower than the number of claimants in January 2012 and remains below regional and national levels.
The number of claimants in Worcestershire was at its lowest level
since December 2008, however, as expected, the number has risen due to the
decrease in seasonal work. The greatest
decrease in absolute terms (between January 2012 and January 2013) took place
in Worcester with a fall of 348 claimants. The district with the highest proportion of
claimants aged 16-64 was Redditch (3.8%).
The urban centre with the highest proportion of claimants aged 16-64 is
Kidderminster with 4.4% and the lowest is Wythall at 1.9%. In Worcestershire's
urban areas the proportion of claimants aged 16-64 is 3.4%, which is 0.4% higher
than the county as a whole.
Long Term
Unemployment
The proportion of claimants receiving Job Seeker’s
Allowance between 6 and 12 months has decreased by 4.8% to 15.1% since January
2012 but those claiming for more than 12 months have increased by 5.5 % over
the same period to 21.8% of all claimants. The number of people claiming for
6-12 months has declined due to them either finding employment or falling into
the category of claiming for more than 12 months.
Youth Unemployment
– Claimants Aged 18-24
In January 2013 the number of claimants aged 18-24 was
2,880, an increase of 190 compared to December 2012 and 560 fewer compared to
January 2012. The proportion of
claimants aged 18-24 is 7.0%, 0.2% higher than the England average. The district with the highest proportion of
claimants aged 18-24 was Wyre Forest (8.5%), whilst the greatest decrease in
absolute terms (between January 2012 and January 2013) took place in Redditch
with a fall of 180 claimants. After a
significant rise, the Worcestershire 18-24 claimant rate reached a peak in
August 2009. It has since fallen with
some seasonal effects related to Christmas and summer employment; however, it
is yet to reach pre-recession levels.
Comments
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (the
professional body for HR) said: ‘In line with the results of recent CIPD
surveys, the UK jobs market strengthened significantly in the final quarter of
2012. However, the medium-term outlook remains less certain, as the public
sector seems likely to continue to shed jobs and there are questions over the
private sector’s ability to sustain this momentum unless economic growth
resumes soon.’Meanwhile, separate figures revealed that one in seven employees have been made redundant during the recession. John Philpott, director of the Jobs Economist consultancy, said that around 3.5 million people had lost their jobs since the beginning of 2008. Of those, 63 per cent were men and 37 per cent were women.
‘For both men and women 2009 was the peak year for redundancies,’ Philpott added, ‘although in terms of share of total redundancies 2011 and 2012 have been the two worst years for women, reflecting public sector job cuts.’ (From CIPD members’ site)
Outlook
Supporting the
view above, thirty-five per cent of UK organisations are planning redundancies
or considering job cuts this year, according to new research. With the exception of Greece, this was a
higher percentage than any other country in Europe, found the study by HR
consultancy Aon Hewitt. Of the UK
organisations contemplating a reduction in headcount, 62 per cent were in
service-based industries, the survey revealed.
Commenting on the survey results, Andrew Macleod,
leader of Aon Hewitt’s pay research practice in the UK, said: 'The high
potential figure for redundancies may stem in part from UK organisations
feeling that they continually have to adapt and reorganise to remain
competitive in what is still a volatile economic environment.' (From CIPD
members’ site)
