Jobs and Enterprise

Version 5, May 2008

Change in Claimant Count / Unemployment rate in the borough

The Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) claimant count is just one way to measure the number of people who are out of work. It is a count of people eligible for JSA only, and is a small sub-set of a larger group of people who are old enough to work but who are dependant on benefits. JSA accounts for around 25% of this larger group.

Over the three years April 2005 to January 2007, the historic declining trend stalled: claimant numbers rose, reaching a peak of 4,747, before declining rapidly and reaching an all-time low of 3,645 (3.9% unemployment rate) in October 2007.

JSA Claimant unemployment in South Tyneside now stands at 4,157 people or 4.5% of the working-age population of the Borough (April 2008). This follows the normal seasonal trend, and claimant numbers are expected to decline further, despite the current economic circumstances. However, this could change.

For many years South Tyneside had the highest unemployment rate for Local Authorities in mainland Britain. In December 2002, South Tyneside was the 3rd worst out of 407 local authorities; in April 2005 South Tyneside was 10th worst; and in April 2008, 7th worst.

Between December 2002 and April 2008 unemployment in South Tyneside fell by 17.7%. In numeric terms this is the best performance out of 23 Local Authorities in the North East Region. In all, 892 fewer people were claiming Job Seekers Allowance (JSA). Over the same period, the North East region’s JSA count fell by 4,293 persons, so the South Tyneside fall in numbers accounts for just over a fifth of the regional fall in claimant numbers.

For the same period, December 2002 to March 2008:

  • Jarrow constituency saw a 13.9% improvement, with 297 fewer JSA claimants. This was the 4th best performance out of all thirty NE Parliamentary Constituencies.
  • South Shields constituency saw a 17.8% improvement, with JSA numbers reduced by 543. This is the best performance out of all NE Parliamentary Constituencies, in both in unemployment rate and numerically.

To put this information in a historic context, in May 1993, the time of the last unemployment peak, there were 11,213 people claiming unemployment benefit in South Tyneside and at its worst in September 1985, 16,250 people & their families were affected by unemployment.

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