Vince Cable

Vincent Cable, MP, this week visited the Twickenham Job Centre to see how it is coping with rising unemployment.

The local job centre, like others in the area, is hiring staff to cope with growing numbers.

The latest figures suggest that the numbers in receipt of Job Seekers Allowance has gone up from just over 1000 a year ago to 2200. Notified local vacancies have fallen drastically from 600 to 650 a year ago to just over 200 (though there are 1230 in the 'travel to work' area).

What is striking about the local experience is the very high percentage of job seekers who are "executives and professionals" - around 42% - as against 32% a year ago: bankers for example.

Vincent Cable said: "it is clear that the recession is biting locally, very seriously. The 2200 in Twickenham alone is an understatement since many people, particularly older workers close to retirement or those who haven't kept up their NI contributions, don't register for benefit. The basic picture is clear: unemployment high and rising; vacancies low and falling".

"It is also very striking that there is a big mismatch between local jobs available - in care work, security and hospitality - and the executive jobs people are looking for. The Job Centre set up is much more sophisticated and user friendly that it used to be. But there is a danger of the system being overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the problem".