Rising unemployment is a national emergency

Responding to the latest unemployment figures announced today (Wednesday), TUC Regional Secretary Roger McKenzie said:

“This is another set of dreadful figures, and we fear worse is still to come. The number of unemployed people in the West Midlands is up by 20% betweenOctober and December, with the jobless total in the region now at 204,000, up from 170,000.”

“The Government must act as boldly on unemployment as they are on the banking sector. In these tough times, people need to know the Government is on their side.

“Benefits and redundancy pay need to be raised to cushion the financial blow to the newly unemployed. The Government needs urgently to introduce a short time working subsidy to help companies avoid redundancies in the first place.”