Industrial Scotland overtakes London as worst region in the UK for unemployment

May 16 2011 - A TUC analysis of the 206 local authority areas by claimant to vacancies ratio from March 2005 to March 2011 shows that West Dunbartonshire and East Ayrshire have passed the inner London boroughs to become the UK's worst employment blackspots.

Local Area West Dunbartonshire East Ayrshire Haringey North Ayrshire Lewisham Hackney Greenwich Western Isles Isle of Wight Lambeth

Claimants 3786 4564 10300 5522 9618 10653 7509 533 3557 11425

Vacancies 94 139 352 196 371 412 328 25 186 598

Ratio 40.3 32.8 29.3 28.2 25.9 25.9 22.9 21.3 19.1 19.1

The number of Job Seekers Allowance claimants per vacancy across the country has risen from 1.5 in 2005 to six in 2011. In March 2005 the London borough of Newham had the worst unemployment problem in Britain with 15 dole claimants chasing each vacancy. By March 2011 West Dunbartonshire was the worst with over 40 dole claimants for every vacancy having moved from a ranking of 38 in 2005.

While seven London boroughs, including Haringey and Lewisham, have remained in the top ten employment blackspots' list for at least four of the last seven years, Southwark, Islington and Kensington & Chelsea have improved their rankings to 43, 45 and 47 respectively. In fact, Southwark is one of a mere three local authorities to have a better claimant to vacancy ratio in 2011 than in 2005.

The most improved local authority area is Moray in the Scottish Highlands - moving from a ranking of 26 in 2005 to 98 this year.

According to TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber:

"People living in inner London boroughs have had tough job prospects for many years but since the recession new employment blackspots have emerged.

"There is a stark jobs divide across the country with parts of Scotland and the Tees Valley experiencing a far sharper downturn than parts of the South East.

"We are still in the midst of a jobs crisis. Dozens of towns and cities have more than ten dole claimants chasing every vacancy and areas on their doorstep are not faring much better. It's not good enough for ministers to brand those out of work as feckless and claim that there are plenty of jobs out there. The reality is very different.

"We need far better funded employment schemes than those currently being implemented to get people back into work and contributing to our economy again.

"Instead we are seeing thousands of Jobcentre staff losing their jobs at a time when their experience and expertise is needed most.

"Ultimately strong economic growth is the only way to tackle our jobs crisis but the government's deep and rapid spending cuts are jeopardising our chances of recovery. The government must change course before economic stagnation sets in."

Back in 2002, the 10 worst areas in the UK for unemployment were spread across the country, with half in London, three in the North East of England, one in the North West of England, and one in Scotland. All had unemployment rates of more than one in ten:

Hackney Newham Dundee City Haringey Middlesbrough Southwark South Tyneside Tower Hamlets Liverpool Newcastle upon Tyne

16.4% 13.5% 12.8% 12.7% 12.4% 12.1% 12.1% 11.8% 11.1% 11%

(14,000) (12,000) (9,000) (13,000) (8,000) (13,000) (8,000) (9,000) (21,000) (14,000)

• More UK Job Market Articles
• More Human Resource Articles