The number of people in Pendle who were out of work and claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance in June 2009 was 2,124 according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics earlier today.

This represents a rate of 5.5% of the economically active population, the 306th highest of the 646 UK constituencies. The number of Pendle people out of work and claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance is 1,020 higher than in June 2008 and 99 lower than in May 2009.

Speaking from Westminster, local MP, Gordon Prentice, said: "We are in the middle of a global recession which, as everyone knows, was triggered by the collapse of the sub prime mortgage market in America."

"Unemployment is up on a year ago but down on last month. The local economy is resilient."

"Manufacturing is still a key component of Pendle’s make up. 11,300 people here work in manufacturing. That’s 34.6% compared with 10.6% in Great Britain as a whole."

Employment data for constituencies are available on the Office for National Statistics’ NOMIS website at: http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/lmp/pca/contents.aspx