NewsFlash : "668 Less People Claiming Jobseekers Allowance In Wrexham"
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I do wonder how many of those 668 are the result of benefit “sanctions”, rather than those actually going into FULL-time employment ?
Any idea Rob ?
The ONS datasets are limited in terms of what is regional/local authority – a couple of queries have been placed (again!) however for now the data sources published are at Release Edition Reference Tables – ONS
The other bit that stuck out was the “The figures however also showed economic inactivity was up 40,000 in Wales compared to the previous quarter” despite some national quotes suggesting otherwise.
Rob,
Ah yes, if I’ve read your last para correctly, you’ve hit the nail on the head.
ONS classifies “economically inactive” as quite separate from being “unemployed”.
My understanding ( correct me if I’m wrong here anyone ) is that if a claimant does not commit to demonstrating he/she is actively looking for work, then they can potentially (lol) have their benefits stopped. So they then get lumped into the “economically inactive” bucket without hurting the unemployment stats. Cute.
It doesn’t surprise me that any of the main political parties fail to point this out to the populace in general. They’ve all used this kind of trick to disguise their own failings.
Further to ‘economic activity’ and interpreting figures was this mini twitter thread via Deeside.com earlier.
Conservative Party Press Office said “Economically Inactive” group, aged 16-64inc – those not in or seeking work – has fallen to 21.7% lowest since records began (1971) via @ONS”
Deeside.com replied: “Wales:”economic inactivity was up 40,000 compared to the previous quarter” and attached this pic:
People on the Work Programme (of which there are quite a few) are classed as being in employment even though they’re still on JSA and signing on. This skews the numbers also
I think that I’ve given less detentions for using fewer inappropriately than fewer detentions for using less inappropriately. Mind you, I always say that less is more but haven’t got a clue what fewer relates to……
Oh dear. It does say something when a discussion addressing dodgy Govt Stats converts into a talk about well dodgy grammar innit ?
( Grammar : important. Message : More so, 3G/4G Comms : More More so )
These sort of stats are always fascinating. I lack the knowledge to know what is actually going on here but I would assume that it is the consequence of one or more of several factors.
Occasionally it is down to demographics, where, for example, there are more people hitting pension age than are entering the post Education job’s market. Sometimes it can be where people move from Jobseekers Allowance to some other benefit (like Disability Allowances). Sometimes it can be because individuals are sanctioned and become ineligible for the allowance. Occasionally, it can be because individuals who are being asked to volunteer for work situations in Charity shops (etc) but who are actually working for Cash in hand (and claiming) prefer to not make their fraudulent claims. There appears to be a proliferation of schemes to put people back into the workplace or to set up businesses and all of this must have an effect over time.
Actually knowing precisely what is happening is difficult but there are regular surveys that come out and individuals can either interpret these, extrapolate from the data or merely guess.
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