MP welcomes encouraging employment figures

MP welcomes encouraging employment figures

20 January 2010, Great Yarmouth

As good news emerges that the UK jobless total has begun to fall, Tony Wright MP has also welcomed a study showing that unemployment in Great Yarmouth was much higher in the previous, less severe UK recession of 1992 than it is in the current global one.

The study, by the East of England Labour Party, compared unemployment rates during the current global recession to the rate of unemployment during the previous UK recession in 1992.

Across the whole of the east of England, the levels of unemployment at the end of 2009 were 116,854, but in December 1992 – during the previous recession, that level was 230,549. In Great Yarmouth, unemployment in the 1992 recession was 6,246, or 12 percent of the local population, compared to 3,447, or 6.3 percent now.

Tony said:

‘These figures are very encouraging for Great Yarmouth and for the UK as a whole, and highlight the importance of maintaining support for the economy and for those who lose their jobs at this difficult time.

‘I can remember when I was deputy leader of Great Yarmouth Borough Council how badly the area suffered in the previous recession from lack of investment. I know that times are still hard now but this report shows that the Government’s policies in this recession are working, and that Great Yarmouth is still a great place to do business.

‘In every single area of the east of England, unemployment during the recession of the nineties was higher than it is now. In some areas, unemployment was more than twice as high under the Conservatives. This shows that Government investment instead of cuts is the right way forward.’