Tackling Unemployment
Issue- The latest unemployment figures show that the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance has fallen for the first time in nearly two years.
Key points
-
The strong action we are taking is working:
- unemployment is more than 400,000 below expectations;
- the number of people who have lost their jobs is four times less than if the experience of the last recession had been repeated;
- repossessions and mortgage arrears are now running at around half the rates at which they peaked in the early 1990s;
- the company insolvency rate is less than half its peak in the 1990s.
- But there is no room for complacency. That is why yesterday Yvette Cooper announced thousands of new opportunities for young people meaning that everyone under 25 will be guaranteed a job, training or work experience if they are out of work for six months or more.
- The Conservatives offer a gamble, not a guarantee, to young people out of work. The Tories have refused to back our £5 billion investment in getting people back to work. By cutting support to the economy now, they would make the recession longer and deeper - causing higher unemployment and bigger welfare bills.
Return to Top of page