HUGE HEADLINE JUMP IN ST ALBANS JOBLESSNESS FIGURES MAY UNDERSTATE REALITY

2.56.00pm GMT Mon 26th Jan 2009

The massive 75% year-on-year increase in St Albans residents claiming Job Seekers Allowance is striking evidence of the severity of the newly confirmed recession. There were 619 local claimants in December 2007, this had leapt to 1087 in December 2008. "It's not good even if the absolute numbers in St Albans are still quite low compared with other areas," said Sandy Walkington, Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for St Albans. "More families will have had anxious Christmases and little to look forward to in the New Year when many Christmas period jobs come to an end in any event.

"The truth is that in somewhere like St Albans, there will be many unemployed and under-employed people whom these job centre statistics simply do not pick up. People with redundancy payments don't qualify for Job Seekers Allowance immediately. There will be management level staff on notice of termination. The difficulties in the UK financial services sector will have a disproportionate impact on St Albans. Freelancers and self-employed consultants will be feeling a ripple effect from businesses cutting back. Bonus cuts and short-time working will bite into incomes needed to pay mortgages and credit card debts.

"It is more and more obvious that the Government's VAT cut has been a huge waste of money. Far better if this money had been put directly into hard-pressed people's pockets as income tax cuts - and also to fund 'shovel-ready' new jobs as Barack Obama is planning in the USA."