Chronic jobless figures soaring (From Daily Echo)

Chronic jobless figures soaring

7:50am Thursday 16th February 2012 in News By Patrick Knox, Senior Reporter

THE NUMBER of people who are long-term jobless in Southampton has doubled in the past year, it has been revealed.

A total of 870 people had been on the dole for more than a year, according to figures released yesterday – up from 440 in January 2011.

There was also a sharp rise across the Hampshire County Council area, from 1,660 to 2,335.

The Office for National Statistics bulletin also revealed another increase in people claiming workless benefits across the south.

Across the two council areas, 23,366 people were claiming jobseeker’s allowance (JSA) last month, an increase of more than 1,000 from December’s total.

Experts said there was an urgent need to bring forward measures to get young people back into work. The number of 18 to 24- year-olds on JSA went up to 1,690 in Southampton and 5,165 across Hampshire.

Ministers said there were “encouraging signs of stability”

and pointed to a rise in employment and vacancies.

But much of the extra employment was made up of part-time vacancies as employers scale back hours.

Southampton Itchen Labour MP John Denham said: “These figures are yet another sign that George Osborne’s making a mess of our economy. Young people’s lives are being ruined, more people are out of work and this Toryled Government is having to borrow billions of pounds to pay for the cost of its economic failure.”

Lord Freud, the Welfare Reform Minister, said: “With more people in employment and a rise in vacancies. it is clear the private sector is still creating jobs.”

Across the country, total unemployment – including those not on JSA – was up by 48,000 to 2.67 million in the final quarter of 2011.