The number of people claiming unemployment benefits in Devon and Cornwall has more than doubled since the coronavirus pandemic began, new figures show.
In Devon, the most recent statistics reveal that 36,532 people who are claiming Universal Credit (UC) or Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) are actively seeking work. That is a 138% increase on 12 months earlier.
In Cornwall, the total is 18,491, which is an 118% increase in a year. The stats were compiled in November 2020 and compared to pre-Covid November 2021.
In Plymouth 10,283 unemployed people are claiming benefit while seeking a job. That figure is included in the Devon total, but is still an 86% increase. The Plymouth number also includes 2,043 young people, aged between 18 and 94, which is a 94% rise in a year.
The regional figures were released as the nation’s jobless rate soared to its highest level for more than four years. Official figures showed nearly 830,000 workers have been dropped from UK payrolls since the start of the pandemic.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed the unemployment rate reached 5% in the three months to November for the first time since early 2016 after another 202,000 people lost their jobs.
Figures for December also showed there were 828,000 fewer Britons on company payrolls since before the crisis struck last February as the pandemic has hammered the jobs market. Experts warned that there would be further pain to come after the latest lockdown rips through the labour market.
And in Plymouth, Nicky Keast, partnership manager for Plymouth DWP (Department for Work and Pensions), said it is not known how the situation will look when the Government’s furlough scheme ends in April.
She said many of the people pitched into unemployment in Devon and Cornwall were likely to have lost their jobs due to the economic effect the Covid pandemic and subsequent lockdowns and restrictions have wrought on the economy.
But she stressed that there are still many unfilled vacancies in sectors that are less affected, including care, security, construction and even retail and hospitality, with some businesses operating online or providing takeaway services, and supermarkets remaining busy.
On the job site Indeed, there were 1,605 vacancies in Plymouth alone, Mrs Keast said, and added: “They are in various sectors including sales and retail, call centres, and Plymouth City Council has quite a few jobs.”
She said the Government’s own Find A Job site showed 422 vacancies in Plymouth, and said: “There are lots in the NHS jobs, and in education, including at City College Plymouth and Plymouth Marjon University, for support roles, and in manufacturing and care.
“The Range is advertising for quite a few jobs, and Iceland, Tesco, Morrisons, and even Foot Locker. The supermarkets are obviously doing well.”
And the pandemic has even created some jobs, including a need for people to work on the test-and-trace initiative - and for Jobcentre Plus.
“We will be doubling our work coaches in the Jobcentres,” Mrs Keast said. “We had a massive recruitment drive to get those new work coaches. We have another 80 just in Plymouth. That is new recruits.
“In Plymouth we also have two work coaches just focusing on 18- to 24-year-olds. We are doing lots to support people that are out of work.”
As for the national picture, ONS head of economic statistics Sam Beckett said: “In the three months to November, on our survey data, the employment rate fell sharply again, while the unemployment rate rose to hit 5% for the first time in over four years.
“The number of people saying they had been made redundant in the previous three months remains at a record high. Meanwhile, vacancies, which were rising in summer and early autumn, have been falling in the last couple of months.”
The gloomy unemployment figures come despite signs that the Government’s move to extend the furlough scheme to April has helped cushion the blow.
The number of payroll employees nudged up by 0.2% between November and December, with employment also falling at its slowest pace since March, down 88,000 at 32.5 million.
But there was little cheer in the data as the overall claimant count, which includes people working with low income and hours as well as people who are not working, edged up by 0.3% in December to 2.6 million.
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The redundancy rate hit another record high, up 168,000 between September and November to 395,000, though it dropped slightly from a peak in September.
The early recovery in vacancies seen in the summer also slowed, with about 81,000 between October and December at 578,000 – half the level of growth in the previous three months.
Business leaders reiterated calls to Chancellor Rishi Sunak to extend support measures further to help sectors on life support during the lockdown, such as the hospitality industry and high street.
Tej Parikh, chief economist at the Institute of Directors, said: “It is now crucial that the Job Retention Scheme and other Covid-19 economic support is extended beyond the spring to support employment as restrictions continue.
“The latest lockdown will have only added further pressure on firms with troubled balance sheets, which means more jobs are likely to be lost in the coming months.”
Matthew Percival, director of people and skills at the CBI business group, said the Chancellor must “act now”.
“The Job Retention Scheme needs to run to at least the end of June to avoid a cliff-edge,” he said.
