Newcastle North MP, Catherine McKinnell, has responded to the unemployment figures released today (15th December) by the Office for National Statistics.

Catherine said:

“Today’s figures are very worrying, with the unemployment rate across the country up for the first time in six months and the North East continuing to be one of the worst-affected regions in the UK – and especially when analysts had been expecting a fall in the figures.

“It would appear that today’s figures are a result of cuts to public sector jobs, whilst private sector employment rates have remained about the same. We really do have to question the Government’s belief that the private sector is going to be able to pick up the slack – particularly when we know that there are hundreds of thousands of public sector jobs cuts on the horizon in the North East and across the country.

“We also have one of the highest youth employment rates since records began – with almost 1 in 5 16-24 year olds out of work across the country, and around 1 in 3 in the North East. We are now starting to see the impact of the Coalition’s decision to cut schemes such as the Future Jobs Fund – and thousands of young people across our region are paying a very heavy price.”