Office for National Statistics stats reveal Halton had highest rise in Jobseeker’s Allowance stats in the North West this year

Jun 25 2009 by Mark Smith, Runcorn and Widnes Weekly News

THE scale of the economic battering suffered by Halton over the past 12 months has been brought home by the latest jobless figures.

They reveal the borough has been hit by the sharpest jobless claims rise in the whole of the North West.

According to the Office for National Statistics, the number of residents claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance rocketed by 86%in the last year – the biggest rise in the region.

According to the figures, the borough’s ‘claimant count’ shot up drastically from 2,076 people in June 2008, to 4,478 this month, as the full impact of the recession began to bite.

As a result, Halton has the third highest percentage of people claiming unemployment benefit in the region – after Liverpool and Knowsley.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom. Statistics show the slump seems to be bottoming out.

Halton has seen a big slowdown in the claimant count rise this month, with just 0.1% being added to the total between May and June, compared to 2.34%in the rest of the Liverpool City Region.

A council spokesman said more than £2m has been set aside to help people back into work.

He said Halton’s Strategic Partnership’s new initiatives, aimed at reducing unemployment, will start to appear over the next few months.

“The new Halton Employment Project will spend £2.2m over the next two-and-a-half years supporting people into work through personal development sessions, delivery of one-to-one advice and support, and training courses specifically developed to meet the needs of local businesses,” said the spokesman.