Councillor Kevin Keenan : Unemployment in Dundee up 700 year-on-year >>>

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27 August 2011

Unemployment in Dundee is now the worst in 12 years

Kevin Keenan, Labour Group leader on Dundee City Council, said that "urgent action is needed to create jobs and boost growth" as an analysis of unemployment in Dundee reveals that the latest jobless figures for the city are the worst since 1999.

Councillor Keenan said,

" Economic growth has slowed down, sending unemployment in Dundee sharply upwards to its highest level since 1999, 12 years ago.

"Today it stands at 5,805.

"In 1999 it was 5,816.

"The difference between then and now is that in the period afterwards, from 1999 to 2008, in nine years, unemployment in the city fell by a further 2,600.

Now, since last October, in nine months, unemployment in the city has risen by 1,000."

Councillor Keenan continued,

"The UK Government are cutting spending too deep and too fast, resulting in longer dole queues.

"Reducing people's prospects of work reduces their spending power, the very opposite of what we need."

Councillor Keenan released figures ( from the Office of National Statistics) showing "how widely the recession had penetrated into the jobs market in the city."

Councillor Keenan concluded,

"These figures are also a wake up call to the SNP Government whose priorities are dotting the i's and crossing the t's of the wording of the referendum rather than on jobs."
 

Numbers in Dundee unemployed ( in receipt of Job Seekers Allowance)

These include :

Sales and retail assistants 1,255
Goods handling and storage occupation 365
General Office assistants, clerks 285
Cleaners, domestics 265
Care assistants and home carers 175
Van drivers 205
Information technology - related 60
(IT strategy and planning professionals 5
Software professionals 20
IT operations technicians 20
IT user support technicians 15 )
Engineers ( civil, mechanical,electrical) 20
Hotels and restaurants
Managers 5
Receptionists 30
Chefs, cooks 80
Porters 10
Kitchen and catering staff 200
Education 25
( composed of Higher education teaching professionals 5
Further education teaching professionals 5
Secondary education teaching professionals 10
Primary and nursery education teaching professionals 5 )
Solicitors and lawyers 5
Chartered accountants 10
Architects 5
Nurses 10
Nursery nurses 40
The Arts ( musicians, actors , entertainers ) 25
Graphic designers 25
Sports coaches and fitness instructors 30
Pubs
Managers 5
Bar staff 150
Motor mechanics, auto engineers 40
Hairdressers 30
Security guards 30
 

Unemployment in the Law area has risen again to 282 in July , an increase of 20 on the previous month.

The overall rate now stands at 7.8 per cent, compared with a Dundee average of 6.1 and a Scottish rate of 5.4

Male unemployment in te Law area is over 11 per cent, compared with a Scottish average of 7.1 per cent.

Female unemployment is 4.1 per cent, compared with the Scottish rate of 3.1 per cent.

95 people in the Law area  ( 75 men,  20 women ) have been out of work for 6 months or more .

Read  : Jim McGovern MP calls on Government to do more to tackle unemployment in Dundee >>>

Richard McCready with Councillor Helen Wright

click on the image above to view enlarged version

Councillor Kevin Keenan, Leader of the Labour group on Dundee City Council : The SNP must reveal their spending cuts plan for Dundee immediately

When will the SNP Administration share their budget figures with the public, the workforce and the opposition Councillors in our City?

I note in today's press that Angus Council is to be commended for its honesty as they have now advised their citizens that the cuts they have to impose will see 500 valued employees lose their jobs. Whilst I often hear from Senior Officers of this Council that we must engage better with our Communities, there seems to be very little of this put into practice by the SNP Administration.

The kind of openness that we have seen from Angus Council has yet to be seen from Dundee City Council's SNP Administration as they have continued to hold secret meetings behind closed doors. Even Freedom of Information Requests have not, as yet, been able to uncover their policies for Dundee's future that will see us through these difficult times.

Our SNP Administration, along with the Scottish Government, will not be able to hide cuts and job losses forever - people have the right to know.

If we just compare the amounts to be saved in Angus and in Dundee over the next four years, Dundee has almost twice the amount of cuts to make.

It is very regrettable that this Administration still look to keep things hidden from the very public they have been elected to represent.

It is equally regrettable that they continue to leave our valued workforce and their families with an enormous amount of uncertainty as to their futures.

Not just Angus, but other Councils up and down the country have laid down their intentions as to what their budget implications are to be, way in advance of any budget-setting date and I believe that this lack of information being provided in Dundee is a deliberate ploy of this SNP Administration not to allow the opposition Councillors the time to properly assess the impact on services and the needs of the people who require these very vital services.

We should also have time to consider the City's wider economy in anything brought before Council.

The Administration has set a date of 10 February 2011 when they intend to announce their budget. They should share their intentions with the public way before this date to allow public scrutiny and not just rail-road their budget through as they have done previously.