Despite the national increase in unemployment there was a small drop in JSA claims in Wandsworth last month, down 39 from November to 6,016 (a drop of 0.64%) and down 578 from the previous year (a drop of 8.77%).
Not a huge fall, but better than the drop of one in November and in the national context a drop is good news.
The figures are from NOMIS and are also available on my data page.
Almost no change in Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) claims in the borough for November! In October there were 6,056 claims, in November 6,055 (a change of just -0.02%). The year-on-year change is a little happier, it’s a drop of 586 (-8.82%) from this time in 2009.
The longer term impact of the recession is clear, the graph of JSA claims since the recession started gives a clear picture of the long-term impact, a rapid increase as jobs were lost, but a slow recovery afterwards. And, of course, some of those jobs will never return: for example, many public sector jobs, unsustainably funded by massive borrowing are probably gone forever.
Another small drop in JSA claims in Wandsworth, and couldn’t be much smaller. Just 14 (0.23%) fewer claims than the previous month bring the total to 6,056. But still a decent drop over the course of a year, 757 (11.11%) fewer than this time in 2009.
During the week I heard a few people downplaying the impact of the recession, but I still think this graph tells a tale of the huge damage that the tale end of the Brown-Blair years unleashed.
With the eurozone in turmoil and the necessary effect of tackling the deficit still to come it might be some time before this is undone.
I’m not sure how much value these posts add, but being anally retentive continue to produce them (and update the data).
September saw another slight fall in the total number of Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) claims, 53 (0.9%) fewer people were signing on than in August, bringing the total down to 6,070. The drop against this time last year was 603 people (9.0%)
The figures are not so bright when compared against the pre-recession low, when claims where under 4,000. At the moment claims are still 2,329 (50.0%) higher than pre-recession. Although it should be borne in mind that Wandsworth is still doing remarkably well compared to elsewhere, our claim rate is 2.8%, which compares favourably to rates of 4% and 3.5% for London and Great Britain respectively.
As I do every month a quick look at the Jobseekers Allowance claims in Wandsworth. Again, it’s seen a small drop. Nothing earth shattering, just 59 (1%) fewer than last month and 593 (8.8%) fewer over the year.
The trend seems healthy, if slow, although with speculation about double dip recessions and, of course, the impact of measures to tackle the deficit this might change.
What is telling is the graph over the course of the recession.
While the trend may be downwards now, there’s still a long way to go before it returns to anything like it was before the recession.
The data I’ve used to create the graphs (and come up with the figures) is on my data page.
Along with the rise in employment announced this morning Jobseekers Allowance claims have dropped in Wandsworth.
Like last month we’re lower than we were this time last year, by 315 claims (4.8%) and 93 fewer claims than last month (a 1.5% drop). Of course, it’s not what it was, and I vary between thinking a double dip recession has been avoided, to thinking that one is inevitable. But every drop in the numbers is a step in the right direction.
The graph covering time since the recession began isn’t, perhaps, quite as rosy looking since it shows we still have a long way to go.
My usual posting of the Jobseekers Allowance claim figures for Wandsworth.
The line is starting to look a bit healthier. While the numbers claiming JSA are much higher than they were before the recession it is starting to look like there is a downward trend. In June there was a drop of 244 claims from May (3.7% down) bringing the total to 6,275. Interestingly, for the first time since the recession started the year-on-year comparison shows a reduction. There are 73 (1.1%) fewer people claiming JSA than there were in June 2009.
The graph for the duration of the recession doesn’t look quite as good. It’s clear that there’s still a long way to go, and obviously there has to be some pessimism as the effects of dealing with the deficit make themselves known.
The latest figures (which I’ve been a bit slow in posting) show a drop in claims for Jobseekers Allowance in Wandsworth.
While there are still nearly 3,000 more people (2,902 to be precise) claiming JSA than before the recession and 545 more than this time last year, the number has dropped by 181 (2.7%) since last month.
Of course the impact of the recession is likely to be long lasting; the impact on long-term unemployment is only just starting to show through and many have predicted a jobless recovering in which businesses recover but do not replace the staff they lost but at the moment is seems the rises in Wandsworth have stopped.
It isn’t unemployment, of course, because those figures aren’t available for months on a borough level, but claims for Jobseekers’ Allowance, the main benefit available to the unemployed, fell (very slightly) in Wandsworth in March despite the national increase in unemployment.
Over the course of the year from March 2009 to March 2010 there were an extra 935 claims for JSA (a rise of 15.9%). The drop for the month was 17 (-0.2%).
Comparing claims over the course of the year is a little meaningless now, since the recession lasted so long the comparison is recession with marginally post-recession figures. Taking the figures over the course of the recession (from the beginning of 2008):
JSA claims have risen by 3,083 (or 82.4%) in this period.
What is interesting, at least in Wandsworth, is that the JSA claim figure seems to have plateaued since January. If you believe that the dip in November and December was seasonal (people taking on jobs for Christmas) you could argue that the plateau has lasted since October which fits in with the speculation that there will be a “jobless recovery” in which jobs lost in the recession won’t be recreated in the recovery.
Despite the rise in employment, the number of people claiming unemployment still seems to be rising.
In February there were 6,841 claims for Jobseekers Allowance. Up 52 (not much, but still up by 0.8%) from the previous month and 1,360 from the same time last year (a 24.8% rise).
