Outlook is bleak for town with 2, 379 jobless

Jun 27 2012 by Andrea O'Neill, East Kilbride News

THE latest unemployment figures for the constituency have revealed 2379 people are out of work.

East Kilbride has suffered badly as the double-dip recession bites deep in the local area.

Numbers for the East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow constituency last month, although slightly down on the previous month, are four per cent higher than in May of last year, having leapt by 10 per cent over the last five years.

And the situation looks set to get worse with only 300 vacancies at the local Jobcentre – that’s one job prospect for every eight applicants.

The level of East Kilbride people on the dole ranked 189 out of 650 UK constituencies, with 1 having the highest Jobseeker Allowance claimant rate.

It marks a bleak mid-point in 2012, a year which has already seen several jobs blows affect the town’s retail sector.

Clinton Cards and Birthdays in the town centre closed this month with the loss of 16 jobs.

Argos was another high-profile closure at the shopping centre which saw 25 job losses.

MP Michael McCann has called for better help to support the town’s jobless.

Mr McCann said: “These figures are still far too high. The recovery isn’t happening in any way enough to help the unemployed.

“And the number of people claiming Jobseekers Allowance for more than 12 months has increased yet again – and is nearly twice the level of 12 months ago.”

There was more bad news for young people between 16 and 24 who saw a year-on-year increase of 8.3 per cent, whilst the increase in unemployment for the over 50s rose by six per cent compared with this time last year.

Mr McCann added: “The figures are disappointing for another month. More needs to be done to increase full-time permanent jobs. The country’s future prosperity means that we cannot afford a lost generation.

“Younger and older workers in particular are paying the price of the government’s double-dip recession, and we need a change of course from the government’s austerity programme.”