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The north west saw the biggest rise in unemployment of any UK region between October and December. According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, the number of unemployed people in the region rose by 26,000 in the quarter to hit 319,000, or 9.3 per cent of the working population. In Greater Manchester just over 86,000 people were claiming JobSeeker’s Allowance in January, up 5.2 per cent from 82,000 in December. The number of young claimants aged 16 to 24 increased by nearly 1,000 on the month to reach 27,000. Baron Frankal, director of economic strategy at New Economy, said: “We have been saying over the last few months that employers may start to shed jobs if prospects do not improve and with the UK now looking increasingly likely to head back into recession, things could get worse on the jobs front before we see any real significant signs of improvement.” Nationally, unemployment hit a 16-year high, jumping by 48,000 to 2.67 million or 8.4 per cent, the worst figure since the end of 1995. Youth unemployment increased by 22,000 to 1.04 million, which includes 307,000 in full-time education who were looking for work. And a record number of people are working part-time because they cannot find full-time jobs – up by 83,000 over the latest quarter to 1.35 million.

For anyone aged between 16-18 years old, Apprenticeships are seriously worth considering…..