12 jobseekers for every Rotherham vacancy, says TUC

The town has seen the second sharpest rise in the number of dole claimants per vacancy across Yorkshire and Humber over the last seven years,  according to a new report.

The revelation came from the TUC, which says that Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants have doubled across parts of Yorkshire and the Humber.

The TUC analysis looked at the ratio of Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants to Jobcentre Plus vacancies in every local authority from March 2005 to March 2011, before ranking each of the 206 local authority areas by its ratio of claimants to vacancies.

In March 2005, North East Lincolnshire had the toughest job prospects across Yorkshire and the Humber, with three dole claimants chasing every vacancy.

By March 2011, Hull had become the top blackspot in the region, with more than 18 dole claimants chasing every vacancy, but Rotherham was just behind.

Rotherham, Hull and Bradford have seen the sharpest rise in the dole claimaints per vacancy since 2005.

In Rotherham in March, there were 7,854 people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance, but just 650 vacancies.

Across Britain, the number of dole claimants per vacancy has quadrupled from 1.5 in 2005 to six this year.

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Yorkshire and Humber TUC regional secretary Bill Adams said: “It’s not good enough for ministers to brand those out of work as feckless and claim that there are plenty of jobs out there.

“We need far better funded employment schemes than those currently being implemented to get people back into work and contributing to our economy again.”

According to another new study, one in four jobseekers fear that they will still be looking for work in a year’s time.

Almost four in ten have little confidence in their ability to find work by the end of this year, a figure that has risen ten per cent over the past 12 months.

A survey of over 11,000 people by totaljobs.com also revealed that two thirds have applied for 11 jobs or more since they began the search and a third have not yet been invited to a single interview.

Meanwhile, there was some good news on the job front after Remploy, which provides employment services for disabled people, said that it had more than trebled the number it supported into work in Yorkshire and Humberside last year—with a leap from 23 to 423 in Rotherham.

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