18 February 2010

New figures published this week show half a million unemployed people have got jobs through the Local Employment Partnerships run by Jobcentre Plus.

Stafford’s Labour MP David Kidney says that this is a great example of the public and private sectors working together to see off the recession:

“Local Employment Partnerships bring together employers from both the public and private sector to match people with jobs that become available in the local economy. Funded through Jobcentre Plus, the scheme has benefited from the extra £5bn the Government is investing in helping people find work since the start of the recession.

“The Labour Market statistics for the final Quarter of 2009 show a 3,000 drop in unemployment, but January’s claimant count for those signing on unemployed is up 23,500 and this includes a 7,700 rise in the youth claimant count. Our country’s employment level is just below 29 million and the number of job vacancies has increased.

“Claimant unemployment is 5 per cent compared to 10 per cent in previous recessions. Around 70% of claimants are still leaving Jobseeker’s Allowance within six months.

“I welcome the second consecutive fall in unemployment on the International Labour Organisation measure. But we must not let down our guard, the recession is not yet beat and we cannot afford to plunge back into recession.

“In previous downturns unemployment increased for over a year after the recession had finished, however I believe that increased investment and changes in the labour market will help bring unemployment down faster this time.

The government also announced a further 6,000 jobs under the Future Jobs Fund, bringing the total to 110,000.

Other figures published today show that around 14,000 people have benefited from the work focused training element of the new Six Month Offer.