Anger as Rotherham's jobless total soars

According to latest figures announced by the Office for National Statistics, the number of unemployed claimants in the Rotherham constituency in December 2011 was 3,903.

This represents a rate of ten per cent of the economically active population aged 16 to 64—the 58th highest of the 650 UK constituencies.

The number of claimants is 642 higher than in December 2010 and 90 higher than in November 2011.

Dr MacShane said: “David Cameron and Nick Clegg went to university in the 1980s and clearly did not notice the disaster of mass unemployment that occurred the last time we have a Conservative government.

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“Now the Government are taking us back to the 1980s with a vengeance.

“In America and Germany unemployment is falling as their Governments work intelligently to put in place job-creating policies.

“In Britain we have rising joblessness, no growth, a weak pound and inflation twice that of Europe.

“Truly we have the same old Conservatives back running the north into the ground.”

Nationally unemployment increased to a 17-year high on Wednesday after a 118,000 rise in the number of people out of work.

The figure jumped to 2.68 million in the three months to November, the worst since the summer of 1994, giving the UK a jobless rate of 8.4 per cent.

Record youth unemployment saw the number of jobless 16- to 24-year-olds rise by 52,000 to 1.04 million, the highest since records began in 1992.

Speaking in the Commons, Prime Minister David Cameron said: “Any increase in unemployment is disappointing and it is obviously a tragedy for the person who becomes unemployed.”

The number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance in December increased by 1,200 to 1.6 million, the highest for a year after the tenth consecutive monthly rise.

South Yorkshire in numbers: Jobless total up Crime figures down.

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