Star date: 28th March 2012

UNEMPLOYMENT UP! HOMELESS UP! WAGES DOWN!

`Just seven Job Centre Plus vacancies in Kersal in January'

Despite the opening of MediaCityUK and its surrounding Quays businesses, life for the average Salford person is getting worse, and the city's middle class is getting squeezed too. New Government figures show huge annual increases in long term unemployment, youth unemployment, female unemployment – and massive rises even in suburbs like Claremont, Swinton and Boothstown.

The gloom is accompanied by a drop in wages for those still in work, council house waiting lists growing and an increase in homelessness.

Full story in Part One – click here…

PART 1: UNEMPLOYMENT ROCKETS

Salford's annual unemployment figures make for gloomy reading. Between January 2011 and January 2012 unemployment, defined by Job Seekers Allowance claimants, rose by 41.4% in Cadishead, 30.9% in Claremont, 28.6% in Swinton North and 21.8% in Walkden North…

The highest actual rates of unemployment are still in disadvantaged areas like Broughton (9.7%), Little Hulton (9.5%) and Langworthy (8.2%) but it's now apparent that even the city's middle class suburbs like Claremont and Worsley, and traditional places of employment like Irlam and Cadishead, are amongst those getting hammered by recession and cuts.

Annual female unemployment in Cadishead is up by 102%, in Claremont it's up by 78.7% and in Swinton North it's up by 50.6%. Long term unemployment (over six months) rose by 83.3% in Worsley and Boothstown, 81.8% in Cadishead, 69.2% in Irlam and 60% in Swinton North.

There's also been a huge rise in what is classed as `youth unemployment' – those between 16 and 24 – with a whopping 58.3% annual rise in Cadishead, a 50% rise in Weaste and Seedley, a 43.8% rise in Kersal and a 43.3% rise in Walkden North.

Meanwhile, in January this year there were just seven Job Centre Plus vacancies in Kersal, six in Langworthy, seven in Winton and nine in Broughton, although Blackfriars, for some reason, had 722. 

The lack of vancancies was recognised by Kersal councillor Ann-Marie Humphreys at the East Salford Community Committee meeting last week… "There's a woefully low number of jobs at the Job Centre" she said, adding that she was "dismayed to see how poorly supplied the Job Centre is…and it's nothing new."

People might well be asking about the benefits of huge public expenditure in MediaCityUK and other `prestige' publicly funded projects around the city.

Meanwhile, latest figures show that over the last twelve months (Oct 2011-12) an added 570 households were in receipt of council tax benefits in Salford, while for those still in work, gross annual income fell from £23,025 in 2010, to £22,625 in 2011, despite cost of living increases all over the place.

Running parallel to these figures are increases in homelessness in the city and cuts to the support services…

Part Two: Homeless in Salford - click here…