The districts with the highest and lowest unemployment rates are Redditch and Worcester (both 5.1%) and Bromsgrove, (3.1%). The male unemployment rate in Worcestershire is 5.0% (up 0.3%), compared to the female rate of 3.0% (up 0.1%). In terms of urban centres, Kidderminster had the highest unemployment rate at 5.7%. The lowest unemployment rate was in Bewdley (2.5%).
The number of vacancies in Worcestershire was 3,614 in January 2012, which is 27% lower than in December 2011.
Unemployment increased in all six districts in the county, with the largest monthly changes being in Redditch (138), Worcester (157) and Wyre Forest (171). There is no indication of a specific reason for these increases, although it is reported that the DHL logistics depot in Droitwich has been closed and the work moved to Somerset with the loss of around 300 jobs. (It has just been announced that the Shop Direct – formerly Kay’s – distribution depot on the same estate in Droitwich is also to close). Either many of the employees live in other areas or have not yet claimed Job Seekers’ Allowance as unemployment in Droitwich is only up by 25 and in Wychavon as a whole by 70. The urban centres with the largest increases are Stourport (307), Worcester (157), Kidderminster (145) and Redditch (127).
Those out of work in the county for more than six months fell fractionally but is still 36% of all those unemployed; the number out of work for more than 12 months rose slightly and is around 16% of all claimants.
Youth unemployment again rose (by nearly 200) in January 2012 with 3,440 people aged 18-24 were claiming JSA benefit compared with 3,245 in December 2011 and up 380 on January last year (3,060). 3,145 people aged 18-24 have been claiming for up to one year, which is 7.2% of the 18-24 population, (unchanged from December 2011) but still marginally higher than the England average.
Although Worcestershire has seen a larger increase in unemployment than for some time, the national rate of increase was slower last month. Unemployment is a ‘lagging indicator’ in that it often begins to respond some months later to changes in the economy shown by other indicators. Although the economic news is somewhat mixed there seems to be a growing view amongst commentators that we may be seeing the bottom of the current dip. News from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation suggests that, whilst there is a short-term drop in hiring intentions, in the longer-term in 2012 some 59% of employers intend to take on permanent staff and there is still demand for temporary staff too.
When I posted a similar summary of the unemployment figures last month I was challenged by a colleague to provide some theological comment. I’m not too sure about there being much theological work on unemployment (though there has been a fair bit about employment) apart, perhaps from the comparison of redundancy to bereavement. I thought what I might do is write a separate post about my experience as a chaplain of accompanying now a considerable number of people through the experience of restructuring and redundancy.
Most of my work as a chaplain is with people at work and if people lose their jobs we tend to lose contact with them so that there is less knowledge about what it is like to be unemployed. We have not much experience of job clubs for those who are unemployed, unlike colleagues in Solihull and in Coventry and Warwickshire and which the BCUIM team are working on in the Black Country. This may be because, whilst there are pockets of more serious unemployment in Worcestershire, there is not generally a perception of it being a problem because the overall rate is comparatively low.
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