Constituency unemployment figures for February 2010 were published at 9.30am today by the Office for National Statistics.   The number of unemployed people in Pendle on Jobseekers’ Allowance in February 2010 was 2,081.

This represents a rate of 5.2% of the economically active population, the 346th highest of the 646 UK constituencies. The number of people on JSA is 36 higher than in February 2009 and 87 lower than in January 2010.

Speaking from Westminster, local MP Gordon Prentice commented: “Unemployment has dipped in Pendle and that is good news. But, as we all know, one swallow doesn’t make a summer. We are in the grip of a fierce global recession.”

“Unemployment in comparable Western democracies is generally higher than here. In some, such as Spain, it is dangerously high.”

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