Unemployment is down……

According to figures released today the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance has reached its highest last month and it is the highest since Labour came to power in 1997. Looking at unemployment as a whole it is very evident that we still have some ways to go, and I hope government minsters resist jumping into the “… we see green shoots….” mood because we have an election looming. Especially since the long term unemployed – those who have been out of work for longer that a year – and the economically inactive – those who are looking after family members, gave up looking for work and students – is also at its highest in 13 years.

On the upside the unemployment rate is down by 3,000, job vacancies have increased (although most are temporary and part time) and the rate of unemployment was unchanged but best of all, this is the second consecutive month for a drop on unemployment numbers.

Creating superficial jobs – a lot of the public sector jobs were created to prop up the employment figures – or slashing workers hours – due to lack of work or simply to stimulate unemployment figures – are not long term solutions to this crisis. The only viable solution is supporting businesses, in particular small and medium size enterprises. Instead of terrorising banks and dreaming up unrealistic taxes, it is best to encourage financial institutions to lend and inject funds into existing businesses, only then will the economy genuinely become stimulated. Along with that, deficit reduction must be tackled much sooner and more aggressively, the two together – injection of cash into business and slashing the deficit – and working parallel to each other are our only hope for a credible and speedy recovery.