Unemployment rises as south Manchester feels the pinch

3.19.27pm GMT Thu 8th Jan 2009

The number of people claiming Job Seeker's Allowance in south Manchester has rocketed in the last 12 months as the credit crunch begins to bite, new figures show.

Between November 2007 and November 2008, the number of claimants in Manchester Withington constituency alone increased by 32.3% as more and more people struggle to make ends meet.

John Leech, the area's MP, said:

'These figures clearly demonstrate the dreadful mess that the economy is in. Companies are having to cut costs, which unfortunately means that people are losing their jobs, and it is happening across the board.'

'People are finding it harder and harder to cope in the present economic climate and these new stats just serve to reinforce how dire the present situation is, and what a mess this Government has got us into.'

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Notes to editors:

1. The statistics are based on figures released by the National Statistics (NOMIS database) and represent the number of unemployed people who are claiming Job Seeker's Allowance.

2. In Manchester Withington, the number of claimants rose from 1,389 to 1,838.

3. Nationally, the figure rose from 785,759 to 1,056,145.