Worcester MP Robin Walker is pleased that unemployment in the United Kingdom remains near record lows, providing security to families across the country and in Worcester in the face of severe global challenges as we head into winter.
The latest official job figures show that the number of people claiming universal credit in Worcester is 2,280, or 3.6% of the working population, which compares favourably with both the West Midlands and the rest of the United Kingdom.
Robin was also encouraged that youth unemployment also remains below West Midlands and UK averages, down 100 from a year ago when it was 3.7%. The figure for Worcester peaked at 7.5% during the pandemic and measures such as the Kickstart scheme, which ran from September 2020 - March 2022, provided 160,000 Kickstart jobs to young people.
I was pleased to see reports that the Prime Minister will accept an official recommendation to increase the living wage from £9.50 an hour to about £10.40 as I believe that it is vital that we make sure that work always pays. This rise of nearly 10% would benefit around 2.5 million people.
Speaking after the announcement of the latest job figures, Robin said:
“I always want to see the figures go further down and faster, but the fact that unemployment is down 450 from this time last year, and youth unemployment is down 100 from a year ago is pleasing to see.”
“I appreciate the fact that peoples hard earned money is not going as far as it has in the past, but the Prime Minister and Chancellor are committed to tackling inflation, which has been driven up by the illegal war in Ukraine.”
“Work must always pay, and I was pleased to hear rumours about an increase in the National Living Wage. I hope to see this confirmed in the Autumn Statement on Thursday.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
For the latest job statistics on Worcester see:
Labour Market Profile - Nomis - Official Census and Labour Market Statistics (nomisweb.co.uk)
For the national job figures see:
News and communications - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
For Robin’s previous commentary on unemployment see:
Data shows further falls in Worcester unemployment | Robin Walker (walker4worcester.com)