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6,500 unemployed in south Essex

1:20am Friday 17th October 2008 in


MORE than 6,500 people in south Essex are signing on to the dole, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Figures show the number of people claiming Job Seekers’ Allowance in September increased by 153 people from the previous month.

Two thirds of the claims are coming from people living in Castle Point and Southend.

Unemployment nationally has risen in the past three months to 5.7 per cent of people over 16, with 164,000 more people currently out of a job.

Since June, the number of people across south Essex out of work and claiming benefits has increased by about 800.

Denise Rossiter, Essex Chambers of Commerce operations director, offered some hope by suggesting businesses in the county were not suffering as badly as others elsewhere in the country. She said: “In a period of economic downturn it is sadly inevitable jobs will be lost.

“We would like this to be a short-term situation, but I am not sure we have seen the end of it.

“But it is not all doom and gloom. In Essex, businesses are not affected as badly as they are elsewhere in the country.

“The economy will come back and settle itself down again.”

Jobseekers’ Allowance pays £60.50 per week for a person aged over 25, who is out of work.

Nationally, the number of people claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance rose by 31,800 to 939,900 in September.

Comments(19)

Southendman says...
2:17am Fri 17 Oct 08

"In Essex, businesses are not affected as badly as they are elsewhere in the country."

Oh really! How come then there was just 3 poxy pages of job vacancies in the Southend Echo's Thursday edition!

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Boyd_Schidt says...
8:26am Fri 17 Oct 08

Maybe only other regions have got 1 page advertised in their local paper, or that recruitment companies are cutting back on expenditure such as advertising vacancies in newspapers but the jobs still are around?

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Phil Meigh says...
9:29am Fri 17 Oct 08

Only 6500 you must be kidding. Seen the state of some of the people wandering around the only excuse I could give for the lack of sartorial elegance was that they were signing on.

I am flabbergasted at this revelation.

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Thames Gateway says...
9:40am Fri 17 Oct 08

The fragility of the local job market underlines the reasons why we should all be backing and pushing ahead with the business regeneration proposals for the town. Vision is needed to make this area work long term.

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Boyd_Schidt says...
9:53am Fri 17 Oct 08

Maybe the council should investigate the possibilities of widening the road at Priory Crescent to allow better communications link with the East of the town to push forward with regeneration.

Oh, hang on . . .

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152 says...
10:44am Fri 17 Oct 08

Like the Echo has a problem with its oversimplifcation of the word 'households' to 'families', here they have oversimplifed 'working age people considered to be capable of working claiming benefit'. Therefore, this excludes all the unemployed single parents, the sick, those with so much cash they dont need to work, those with large redundency payments and pensioners.

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donna0845 says...
11:03am Fri 17 Oct 08

I was made redundant in July, I went to every employment agency in Southend, Basildon, Chelmsford only one of them had a job for me paying a salary of £15,000pa which won't pay my bills as a single mother. I haven't had one job offer since!!! So where are these jobs!! I'm sure I am not the only who can't find a job!! My whole life that I have worked so hard for is now at risk!! This country is in a mess and the government will do little to help people who are at risk of losing their homes etc...!! The banks are greedy, repossessing their homes instead of helping them get through these bad times, there is alot of vultures our there waiting for pick the meat of the bones of peoples demise!!!

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Marshwalker says...
12:58pm Fri 17 Oct 08

Just remember this at the next general election. Then we might just get a decent govenment in power. Oops sorry, they just look after their own jobs, and the rest of us can fight for the crumbs of the rich poeples table.

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Boyd_Schidt says...
1:34pm Fri 17 Oct 08

Marshwalker wrote:
Just remember this at the next general election. Then we might just get a decent govenment in power. Oops sorry, they just look after their own jobs, and the rest of us can fight for the crumbs of the rich poeples table.
Changing the government won't get out of this current downturn, just as much as the current government got us into it.

The financial markets are cyclic, these kind of events happen semi-regularly but the scale and timing of this one has been particularly unfortunate. It is in effect the "perfect storm" in the financial world, and the government stepping in is part of a long term strategy to keep the economy afloat.

If the banks go bust, then even more people would be out of work, even more people claiming social benefits and so taxation would have to rise even quicker than it may be about to anyway.

People were happy to think that the housing boom would go on forever, and so have possibly pushed themselves further financially than they would have done in the past. Now that lines of credit are being withdrawn and jobs are being lost it becomes the governments fault.

The fault lies with society today and it's perpetual need for material gains and wealth.

As for the politicians protecting their jobs what is wrong with that? They all have homes, families and bills to pay?

I'm no politician, but I am making **** sure that I am working as hard as I can to protect my job.

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Lord Wilmsmore of Wentague says...
1:54pm Fri 17 Oct 08

I have had to layoff both my manservant and my chauffeur. Whatever lies ahead scares me, what if I have to sell off one of my Chateaus, or the vintage Bentley, I dread to think how deep this recession will cut.

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mattvincent says...
1:59pm Fri 17 Oct 08

I am 27 and have been unemployed for a while, i went to a company called LearningLine in Rochford they really helped and i would fully recommend them to anyone looking for help with work.
Hope they can help you as they did me. cheers guys

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mattvincent says...
2:05pm Fri 17 Oct 08

Southendman wrote:
"In Essex, businesses are not affected as badly as they are elsewhere in the country." Oh really! How come then there was just 3 poxy pages of job vacancies in the Southend Echo's Thursday edition!
I am 27 and have been unemployed for a while i went to a company called LearningLine in Rochford and they really helped and i would fully recommend them to anyone in need of help! Cheers Guys!

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Horace Wimpole says...
2:22pm Fri 17 Oct 08

mattvincent wrote:
I am 27 and have been unemployed for a while, i went to a company called LearningLine in Rochford they really helped and i would fully recommend them to anyone looking for help with work.
Hope they can help you as they did me. cheers guys
Forgive me for being dense, but am I to understand that you are still unemployed?

If so, perhaps you could expand on your statement "they really helped" -- how so?

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Phil Meigh says...
4:22pm Fri 17 Oct 08

Dey hepled me too tipe and too spel and to lurn stuf.

and I can ad up numbers and fing.

giz a job.

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Lord Wilmsmore of Wentague says...
4:59pm Fri 17 Oct 08

Phil Meigh wrote:
Dey hepled me too tipe and too spel and to lurn stuf. and I can ad up numbers and fing. giz a job.
Ah Meigh,

Sorry I had to let you go old chap, you were an excellent driver, never missed a single peasant and always cleaned up afterwards. Good luck old bean to you and your sister or wife or whatever she was.

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Phil Meigh says...
5:47pm Fri 17 Oct 08

I knew you weren't paying attention during droit de seigneur.

Sir.

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Bester says...
6:51pm Fri 17 Oct 08

And how many Southenders are receiving "disability" benefit? I have a feeling that, statistically speaking, Southend has one of the highest rates of "disabled" people in the country.

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Southendman says...
2:58am Sun 19 Oct 08

Bester wrote:
And how many Southenders are receiving "disability" benefit? I have a feeling that, statistically speaking, Southend has one of the highest rates of "disabled" people in the country.
Course it has mate! with the state of the town at the moment, living in Southend should be classed as a disability!!!!!!!!

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Beth the original one says...
6:08pm Mon 20 Oct 08

i hope everyone who is looking for a job is successful. It isnt easy being unemployed.

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