Published: Friday, 13th February, 2009 8:00am

Unemployment rise accelerates

Comments (2) | Print | Email

UNEMPLOYMENT rose by more than 900 last month across the four local authorities which cover the greater Reading area.

Across Reading, West Berkshire, Wokingham, and South Oxfordshire council areas the total claiming benefit went up 916 - as the national jobless total reached 1.97 million. The news follows increases of 622 in January and 701 in December, in sharp contrast with previous years when the figures moved by barely more than a handful each month.

A breakdown reveals the total for Reading borough is 2,755 people (2.8% of the workforce), up 273 on last month. In West Berkshire there are 1,531 people on the dole (1.6%), a rise of 217.

In Wokingham borough, the total is 1,326 (1.3%), a rise of 208 while in South Oxfordshire, the total 1,177 (1.5%) was 218 up.

CBI regional director for the Thames Valley, Steve Rankin, said: "The news is very sobering. It is a measure of the extent to which the economy is deteriorating. I think that the downturn is impacting on small firms rather than bigger ones but I think the experiences are mixed."

However, Mr Rankin said there was a lot of resilience around and believes that when the "cycle turns the corner" the economy will pick up quickly.