Unemployment claimant count rises

The number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance in Rochdale has risen.

Last month 7,109 claimed the benefit compared with 7,091 the month before. The figure has risen in every Greater Manchester authority apart from Wigan.

Jerry Stokes, Chief Executive of Work Solutions, an organisation working with Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce which helps get unemployed adults into work, said: “The claimant count and unemployment across Greater Manchester, as anticipated, is rising again.

“Private sector job creation has been weak, so this increase is no surprise as the losses in the public sector outweigh job creation at this time. The low growth environment with inflationary pressures is also unlikely to give businesses the confidence to increase their workforce at this moment in time and so the claimant count and unemployment is likely to rise further yet across the region.

“What is not helping business sentiment is the additional costs of employing staff and the associated regulatory burden. If Government does not act to reduce these burdens then this will act as a permanent brake on the recovery that will put us at a disadvantage to our competitors.”