Monthly Unemployment Briefings

September 2008 headlines!

The claimant count in Cumbria has risen by 69 (from August to September) and by 577 in the last year (from September 2007) to reach 5,286.  The situation varies across the county with the claimant count having fallen from last month in Barrow, Carlisle and South Lakeland but risen in Allerdale, Copeland and Eden.  Over the year, the count has risen in all districts except Barrow where strong performance at the local Barrow shipyard has seen unemployment fall over the year.  In terms of the unemployment rate (% of working age population), the rate is unchanged in Cumbria from last month (1.8%) but has risen by 0.2% over the year.  This is slightly better than the national figure which has risen by 0.1% over the month and 0.3% over the year.

For more details please follow the September briefing link below.

The figures quoted nationally use a wider definition of unemployment which includes those out of work who are not claiming benefit. These figures are not produced for local areas and therefore should not be compared with those above, but will be quoted by the national press.  They show a rise of 164,000 people over the quarter to reach 1.79 million which is a rate of 5.7%.  

If you require further information please contact Ginny Murphy, Research Manager, Invest in Cumbria at ginnym@investincumbria.co.uk or 01768 895363.