Rise in number of Capital's unemployed slowing down

Published on Thursday 22 April 2010 10:02

THE extent that unemployment is rising in the Capital has slowed for four consecutive quarters, giving hope that the city's economy is strengthening.

New official government figures show that 11,481 people were signing on the dole in Edinburgh at the end of last month.

The figure is still 22 per cent higher than this time last year. However, that is a much lower increase than the 46 per cent year-on-year growth seen at the end of 2009. And it compares to a peak of a 77 per cent increase last June.

Business leaders say that the slower rate of unemployment growth gives hope that the worst of the job losses in Edinburgh have now passed. But they warn that unemployment could spike again if public sector firms have to cut their cloth as they face up to the crisis in public finance.

Ron Hewitt, chief executive of the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, said: "The problem for us is Scotland has had a lag on the impact of the recession so we have been a bit slower to recover.

"But there are signs of improvement and that is echoed in the scale of the growth of unemployment. It is still going up but not as fast as it was.

"We will not see the full impact on the public sector until the indicators come through from the new (UK] parliament. I am not sure that employment will be positive through this year.

"We are naturally cautious. In this first quarter it is very difficult to gauge how business will be but there do seem to be encouraging signs with people saying things are getting better and talking about contracts or signing contracts."

The city's economic development leader, Tom Buchanan, said: "These figures are encouraging and justify the range of actions being taken by the council, together with its partners across the private and public sectors, to help ensure Edinburgh's economic resilience.

"That said, we recognise that we must continue in our efforts to provide opportunities for everybody in Edinburgh to access sustainable employment."

The number of people claiming Jobseekers Allowance declined by 0.5 per cent in March when compared with a month earlier, although year-on-year figures are seen to be a much more reliable indicator.

Across Edinburgh, 3.6 per cent of the working population is claiming Jobseekers Allowance, compared to an average of 4.2 per cent across the UK and 4.5 per cent in Scotland.

Within Edinburgh's Westminster constituencies, the biggest rise in unemployment was in Edinburgh South, which saw a 37 per cent increase in March compared with this time last year. But it remained the lowest claimant rate in the city, at 2.6 per cent of its working population.

The smallest rise, at 17.5 per cent, was in Edinburgh West. The area with the highest unemployment rate was Edinburgh East, where 2,782 people are signing on.