Coronavirus jobs bloodbath
Parts of country could end up being ‘wastelands’ as total forced out of work due to pandemic doubles
THE number of people out of work has more than doubled in Scotland i n the wake of the pandemic, according to new analysis.
Experts fear that pockets of the country will become job wastelands as the fallout from the virus hammers the most vulnerable communities.
In Edinburgh, the proportion out of work has tripled in a year, while in Scotland’s worst jobs blackspot – North Ayrshire – nearly one in ten are looking for work.
The figures point to a massive jump in joblessness as a result of severe lockdown measures forcing swathes of the economy into closure.
Last night, Scottish Tory economy spokesman Maurice Golden said: ‘Every part of our United Kingdom is dealing with the devastating economic effects of the coronavirus and far too many families are already going through the toughest of times.
‘However, we must see more urgency from the SNP in order to stem the wave of job losses.
‘They have the funding from (Chancellor) Rishi Sunak and must use it to support people and businesses immediately.
‘We must do all we can to avoid unemployment rising out of control across Scotland, as further restrictions are imposed.’
In Scotland, the number of people out of work shot up between September 2019 and September 2020 from 106,690 to 220,020.
This means the proportion of working-age adults on the dole or receiving Universal Credit and ‘searching for work’ has risen from 3.1 to 6.3 per cent.
In the city of Edinburgh, the claimant numbers rose from 6,380 to 18,730, meaning the proportion out of work has gone up from 1.7 per cent to 5.1 per cent. The figures show the number of claimants in Glasgow rose from 18,920 to 38,180, with the percentage up from 4.2 per cent to 8.5 per cent.
In Aberdeen the number rose from 3,815 to 9,415, meaning the percentage out of work increased from 2.4 per cent to 6 per cent.
Elsewhere in the UK, Slough, Luton, Blackpool and Bradford have seen the biggest rises in people out of work in the last 12 months, according to analysis from the Centre for Economic and Business Research.
The jobs rout means that the rate of unemployment is now more than double the national average in Hartlepool, Hull, Wolverhampton, Blackpool and Middlesbrough, revealing the devastation caused by the pandemic in economies that are most exposed to the impact of the virus.
Nationwide the number of people claiming universal credit has doubled in the last 12 months and hundreds of thousands of jobs have already been lost in sectors such as aviation, tourism and manufacturing.
On Thursday the Chancellor was forced to expand his winter jobs scheme after a furious backlash to lockdown measures.
But economists predict UK unemployment will rise from 1.5million to 2.7million by Christmas, following a tsunami of job losses when the furlough scheme
‘Stem the wave of job losses’ ‘Failing to prepare us for the crisis’
ends on October 31. Last night Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said: ‘It is becoming clearer by the day that the coming economic crisis will be a crisis of unemployment.
‘Just as the SNP Government’s failed to prepare us for the public health crisis, it is also failing to prepare us for the coming economic and unemployment crisis.
‘A quality Jobs Guarantee Scheme should have already been put in place – and time is running out to implement this before the furlough scheme ends.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘We understand the devastating impact this pandemic has had on employment and that is why the Scottish Government’s focus, through our £230million Economic Recovery Stimulus Package, is on protecting, creating, and supporting skilled jobs.
‘While we welcome the changes to the Job Support Scheme announced by the Chancellor, it does not go far enough to provide the necessary support for workers, business and the economy.’