Jobless and vacancies

9 June 2010

GMB Congress told it is 'fantasy island' politics to suggest that millions of people registered as unemployed or on incapacity benefit can be fitted into jobs that are not there

West Midlands is top of the league of the 11 regions in Great Britain (GB) for unemployment expressed as a percentage of those of working age in the area. There are 244,700 unemployed workers in the West Midlands which is 7.5% of all those of working age in the region. There are 30,486 notified vacancies for jobs in West Midlands. There are also a total of 729,300 people of working age in West Midlands that are economically inactive.

Unemployed - % of all working age		Notified vacancies - % of all working age		Economically inactive - % of all working age
		number	%	number	%	number	%
	Great Britain	2,201,800	6.0	289,900	0.8	7,755,900	21.1
	West Midlands	244,700	7.5	30,486	0.9	729,300	22.3
	North East	114,900	7.2	13,643	0.9	376,900	23.7
	North West	276,900	6.6	41,619	1.0	974,300	23.2
	Yorkshire & The Humber	211,700	6.6	26,013	0.8	715,800	22.2
	London	332,400	6.5	29,264	0.6	1,241,600	24.2
	Wales	113,900	6.4	15,862	0.9	441,200	24.6
	East Midlands	162,600	6.0	23,961	0.9	537,700	19.7
	Scotland	175,200	5.4	21,793	0.7	650,600	20.2
	East	176,800	5.1	25,850	0.7	622,000	18.0
	South West	153,200	5.0	25,572	0.8	565,700	18.4
	South East	239,700	4.7	35,837	0.7	900,700	17.7

Next in the regional league is the North East with 7.2% if those of working age unemployed. It is followed by the North West, Yorkshire & Humberside, London and Wales. See the table below for the figures for all GB regions. In Great Britain there are 2.2 million people unemployed, 7.7 million economically inactive and a monthly average of 289,900 job vacancies notified to job centres.

These figures are in a new GMB study of the number of people who are unemployed, the number of notified job vacancies and the numbers economically inactive across the UK. See Notes for sources and definitions. It was published today at the GMB Congress in Southport in the wake of the new government's announcement that the 2.6 million who are disabled and those on incapacity benefit should move from benefits into work.

The area with the highest rate of unemployment in GB is Sandwell in the West Midlands. There are a total of 21,200 unemployed workers in Sandwell which is 12.1% of all those of working age in the area. See Note 3 for the top ten areas in GB with the highest rates of unemployment.

The unemployment rate is 4.7% in the South East and 5% in the South West the lowest and second lowest in GB. At the foot of this national release on www.gmb.org.uk set out in PDF form is the league table for all 202 areas in GB in terms of unemployment, vacancies and economically inactive. Also at the foot of this release at http://www.gmb.org.uk/ are the 11 regional releases.

Speaking at the GMB Congress in Southport Paul Kenny, GMB General Secretary said, "The government is pursuing policies which are going to put hundreds of thousands of people out of work to join the 2.2 million people already jobless. In the same breath they are talking about getting those on incapacity benefit and disabled people into jobs that do not yet exist.

It is no secret that there are large numbers of people who are disabled and on incapacity benefits as a legacy from the migration of industries from the UK to China and Far East. The problem is most acute in the old industrial heart lands and major cities.

It is 'fantasy island' politics to suggest that you can fit millions of people who are registered as unemployed or on incapacity benefit in to jobs that are not there. The only feasible answer is to create jobs but the government is doing the exact opposite. Getting people into meaningful employment is admirable but the current strategy does not add up."

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