The uneven impact of UK unemployment

Across parliamentary constituencies, there were on average an additional three Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants for every one vacancy advertised at Job Centres in May 2011 compared to June 2010, government figures show.

The figures, released by the Cabinet Office in response to a Parliamentary question show the ratio of JSA claimants to job centre vacancies rose 39 per cent in the 11 months to May 2011, from an average of six claimants per post in June 2010 to nine claimants per post in May 2011 across the 632 parliamentary constituencies in England, Scotland and Wales.

In some constituencies, the increase was far more pronounced. Rhondda in Wales experienced an increase of 62 potential applicants for every advertised post. There are now 84 JSA claimants to every vacancy in the constituency – almost a four-fold increase over the 11 months.

The data also show how uneven the impact of unemployment is across the country.

The largest percentage increase in the ratio of JSA claimants to Job Centre vacancies was in the Conservative Leeds Pudsey constituency, where potential job applicants increased by almost 5 fold over the 11 months. However the absolute numbers in both periods were relatively low, with just over 1 JSA claimant to every vacancy in June 2010 rising to 6 claimants per vacancy in May 2011.

The largest decreases in the ratio of claimants to vacancies were in Livingston which dropped from 11 JSA claimants for each vacancy in June 2010 to four in May 2011 and Barnsley East which dropped from 10 to four.