The number of people claiming Universal Credit in the South West has risen again to more than 429,000 as nationally 730,000 people have lost their jobs since March.
Figures released by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) reveal the number of claimants on July 9 was 429,628, up by 7,275 on a month earlier.
That was fewer than the 12,000 who registered in May, but numbers have been cushioned by the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme which has furloughed workers.
The South West has seen a 151% increase in claimants in just a year, and a 132% increase on five years ago.
Nationally too the figures are still heading in the wrong direction, with an extra 120,614 UC claimants registered in the 海角视频 in June, bringing the overall total to 5,551,559.
Employment across the 海角视频 dipped by 220,000 between April and June, but the unemployment rate remained static at 3.9%, mainly due to the furlough scheme. The number of self employed people also shrank, by 238,000 between Q1 an Q2 2020.
In Plymouth, there were 26,333 UC claimants on July 9, a rise of 417 on the month before. Of the total, 13,833 were in the Sutton and Devonport constituency, with 9,382 in Moor View.
UC does include some people who are using the benefit to top up part-time work, so not all claimants are unemployed, and there may be some people included in the stats who later moved on to the furlough scheme or the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), but it does give an indication of how the lockdown is affecting the economy.
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And there are fears some of the many thousands of workers currently furloughed could be made redundant in the coming months. There were 9.4million on furlough nationwide at the end of June, an increase of 678,000 in the total in May.
Sue Kessell, Jobcentre manager for Devon and Cornwall at Jobcentre Plus, said: “By May we had seen the peak of new claims due to coronavirus, but there has continued to be job losses since May, though alongside that sectors have opened up and there have been more job opportunities. But it is difficult to tell what the impact of the reducing or ending of the furlough arrangements will have.”
BCC head of economics Suren Thiru said: “The decline in the number of employees on payrolls and hours worked is further evidence of the damage being done to the 海角视频 labour market by the Coronavirus pandemic.
“The furlough scheme has been successful in preserving millions of jobs. However, with firms continuing to face a perfect storm of increased costs, reduced demand, and diminished cash reserves, unemployment is likely to surge as the government support schemes wind down, unless action is taken.
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Business Live's South West Business Reporter is William Telford. William has more than a decade's experience reporting on the business scene in Plymouth and the South West. He is based in Plymouth but covers the entire region.
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“A significant spike in job losses would be a major drag on any recovery, stifling consumer spending and reducing the productive capacity of the 海角视频 economy.”
Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) national chairman Mike Cherry said: the future of the Job Retention Scheme will need to be reviewed closely. The option of a meaningful extension to the furloughing initiative should be kept open, especially now local lockdowns are a fact of life and a meaningful second spike in coronavirus infections is possible."
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Minister for Employment Mims Davies MP said: “Today’s figures show more of the impact the virus is having on our labour market and many people will be understandably concerned about the future – which is why we’ve set out our Plan for Jobs, to protect, create and support jobs as we build back our economy.
“We’ve already protected more than 9.5 million jobs throughout this period with the furlough scheme, supported more than two million self-employed people and paid out billions in loans and grants to thousands of businesses. The Eat Out to Help Out scheme is supporting thousands of jobs in the hospitality sector, and the cut to stamp duty has led to a surge in house sales and a welcome boost to the economy.
“Looking to the future, next month we’re launching the £2billion Kickstart scheme to create thousands of high quality jobs for young people, increasing access to tailored job support by doubling the number of work coaches across the 海角视频 and we are boosting the Flexible Support Fund by £150million to provide localised employment support.”