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16
Jun 2020
Unemployment rises in Harrogate district by 186%
There were 3,990 people in the Harrogate district claiming out-of-work benefits in May, up 186% on the previous month.
The figures were published today by the Office for National Statistics and are accurate as of May 14. They reveal that 4.5% of the district’s population is now claiming out-of-work benefits, which rose from 1.5% before the lockdown.
The figures show how the coronavirus lockdown has hit the workforce in the district, in spite of the furlough scheme, which was brought in by the government to protect employees from redundancy.
2,290 of the claimants were men and 1700 were women.
Harrogate is below the UK figure of 6.4% for people claiming the benefits, which includes Job Seekers Allowance and Universal Credit.
Read more:
- Jobless claims in Harrogate district soared by 150% at start of lockdown
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The ONS said that changes to Universal Credit as part of the UK government’s response to coronavirus meant more people became eligible for unemployment-related benefit support, even if they were still employed.
Sandra Doherty, Chief Executive of Harrogate Chamber of Trade and Commerce, told the Stray Ferret that she fears there will be further job losses when the furlough scheme winds down.
She said:
Ms Doherty also said the Harrogate Convention Centre should return to running events as soon as possible to protect further job losses.
She added:
The Harrogate Jobcentre was closed on March 19 when the government suspended all in-person Jobcentre appointments for three months.
The ONS told the Stray Ferret that out-of-work claims have been centralised, meaning that a small number of claims processed at Harrogate’s Jobcentre were from people living outside of the district.
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