The number of people on Job Seekers Allowance has increased to 1,217 or 2.6% of the working population in February 2009. This is a 120% increase from February 2008 when the number of job seekers was 553. The number of open positions has also dropped by 41% since February 2008 to 230, meaning that there are now 5.3 job seekers per vacancy locally, compared to 1.4 a year ago.
Harriett Baldwin said, "It is clear that the local job market has deteriorated very sharply in the last three months. The government's policies to tackle the recession are simply not working. Too many of the Government's announced schemes are not actually in place, such as the subsidy for firms who are recruiting which was announced in the New Year and still isn't operational. The country needs a change of direction and the sooner we can hold a General Election to start that process of change, the better."