Wimbledon MP Welcomes Recent Merton Unemployment Figures
As a sign that the local economy is recovering
Stephen Hammond, Member of Parliament for Wimbledon, has welcomed figures that show that the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance has decreased by 17.5% in Wimbledon and 17.7% in Mitcham & Morden in the period between October 2012 and October 2013.
The new figures, collated by the House of Commons Library, show that nationally the number of people aged 18 and over claiming JSA decreased by 41,700 between September and October 2013. This is the lowest monthly claimant count since January 2009. There are 266,500 fewer people claiming JSA than in October 2012, a decrease of 16.9%.
The official figures show that the number of people coming off benefits is steadily increasing as the economy recovers and jobs are being created.
Stephen Hammond MP said: “I was glad to see that the number of people claiming JSA in Merton had decreased in the year ending September 2013, by -17.5% and by -17.7% in Wimbledon and Mitcham & Morden respectively. These figures show that the economy is healing after thirteen years of mismanagement by Labour.
"Since this Government was formed in May 2010, the private sector has created over 1.4 million private sector jobs, with the fastest rate of job creation in twenty years and more people in work than ever before. It is great to see so many more local people getting jobs.
"It is unfortunate that Labour have failed to get behind the Government’s plans to drive forward economic growth. Despite constant criticism from the Opposition, this Government has been committed to providing the framework that will support aspiration and allow Britain to succeed. As a result, the Office of National Statistics showed growth of 0.8 per cent for the third quarter of 2013 and the IMF has forecast that our growth this year and next year will be higher than that of France and Germany. This simply shows that Ed Milliband’s Labour Party is still not to be trusted with the economy".
November 21, 2013