Newham's jobless numbers keep on increasing

Hundreds more people have joined the dole queue in the borough as the recession continues its hold on local job prospects.

The latest available figures released from the Office for National Statistics show that unemployment has risen by a whole percentage point, which means that there are 820 more people on Job Seeker’s Allowance (JSA) in the borough.

There were 7,515 people on JSA in Barking and Dagenham in December, which means 6.5 per cent of those aged 16 to 64 in the borough were looking for work – the third highest rate in the capital. A year ago, the figures stood at 6,295, which is 5.5 per cent of the working age population in the borough.

Barking and Dagenham ranks 11th among all British local authorities for unemployment with Hackney, Newham and Haringey as the only London boroughs with higher percentages of JSA claimants.

Hackney and Newham are the two east London boroughs – topping the table with 7.2 per cent each, while Haringey ranks second with 6.6 per cent of its residents seeking work.

The figures are worse among 18 to 24-year-olds, with 12.5 per cent, or 2,180 people in Barking and Dagenham, claiming JSA in December – the highest youth unemployment rate in London. This makes the area one of the UK’s boroughs with the highest proportion of young JSA recipients, ranking 23rd among hundreds of local authorities in Britain for youth unemployment.

In December 2010 1,750 young people between the ages of 18 and 24, or 10 per cent, were looking for work in the borough.