Areas of Britain with up to 60 unemployed for every vacancy revealed
The government has been urged to work with local government and devolved administrations to tackle surging unemployment expected to accompany the the post-lockdown economy - with regions of outer London boroughs, the West Midlands and pockets of the North-East and North-West expected to be the hardest hit.
On Thursday the Bank of England’s chief Andrew Bailey said the economic slump following the coronavirus lockdown would be less severe than expected - while also saying the end to the government’s furlough scheme would help people “move forward" out of unproductive jobs.
However the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) has warned that without support targeted to the needs of the most at risk areas of the Britain there may be few jobs for workers to move into - leaving unemployment and poverty to surge in at risk regions of the UK where scores scramble to acquire dwindling job roles.
Highlighting the most at-risk areas, researches for the foundation found the London boroughs of Brent, Barking and Dagenham, and Newham could see the largest crisis in unemployment.
In the north west of the capital Brent, which is assessed to carry a potential peak unemployment rate of 18 per cent, currently has 63 unemployed people for every job in the borough.
Meanwhile neighbouring north-east London boroughs Barking and Dagenham and Newham were found to have 49 and 39 potential workers per job listing respectively.
Other heavily impacted areas included coastal communities like Blackpool which ranked fourth on the listing with a potential peak unemployment rate of 21% and 32 current listings per unemployed person.
Northern regions are also expected to be struck by high unemployment and few job listings. South Tyneside ranked 7th in the listing with 36 jobs per unemployed person, while Pendle was assessed as 8th most at risk.
Dave Innes, Head of Economics at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said:
“It can only be right that the places hardest hit by the ongoing economic crisis are the first priority of the recovery.
“Towns and cities which are already on the brink need urgent support to prevent a surge in poverty caused by rising unemployment.
“There is no one-size-fits-all recovery and many parts of Britain can’t afford the price of inaction. The Government has the chance to provide the skills and opportunities each part of our country needs to thrive if it targets investment where it is needed most.”
The warning comes a day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson claimed there were “real signs of strength in the UK economy”.
Meanwhile the Bank of England's modelling has suggested there will be a jump in unemployment to 7.5 per cent at the end of this year, leaving a total of 2.5 million people out of work - the highest figure since 2013.
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