Number of people in employment rises

Christian Spence, Head of Business Intelligence at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce

The Office for National Statistics today confirmed that nationally in the three months to April the number of people in employment was up 24,000 on the previous quarter and 432,000 from the previous year. Unemployment was down 5,000 from the three months to January and 88,000 lower than the same period in 2012.

In Greater Manchester, the Jobseeker’s Allowance claims fell by over 1,500 to 82,428, the third consecutive fall with each of the ten boroughs registering a decline in the number of claimants. The number of under-25s claiming JSA also fell this month by 620 to 21,510. Again, each of Greater Manchester’s ten boroughs saw a fall in the number of young people out of work.

Christian Spence, Head of Business Intelligence at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said: "The official statistics continue to show a rise in the number of vacancies suggesting a slow but steady improvement in the wider labour market, though 50% of all new jobs created in England over the past year have been in London and the South East.

"This regional disparity coupled with the changing fortunes of sectors (the largest increase in the number of jobs over the past year has been in health and social care) can mean that whilst the private sector is successfully creating more jobs than are being lost from the public sector, those jobs are not necessarily being created in the same areas or sectors.

"This leaves the conundrum of how we connect those recently made redundant with those jobs being created, whether by improved transport links or by retraining for new careers.

"Pay increases have moved upwards slightly this month to 1.3%, though this is still far below the rate of inflation and households will continue to feel the pressure on their spending throughout this year.

"This will make higher spending on longer commutes to access areas of job creation more difficult, risking creating pockets within communities where accessing work easily will continue to be troublesome.

"The Government showed little sign of understanding some of these subtleties in its recent policy announcements in the Budget or the Queen’s Speech.

"The Chamber has repeatedly called on the government to act quickly to support growth and rebalancing within the regions but our calls are going unheeded. With the next general election coming into view, time is running out.

"The spending review later this month is realistically the last chance to truly support the economy outside of London and the South East. On behalf of all our members, we urge the government to seize the opportunity."