JOB centres have been forced to hire scores of new staff as figures showed the number of unemployed people in Edinburgh has soared by almost 4000 in the last year.
Up to 100 temporary staff are to be deployed across the city's Jobcentre Plus offices after figures revealed the 69 per cent jump in the number of people claiming unemployment benefit.
According to UK Government figures, 5544 people were claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in March last year but this jumped to 9369 last month.
Large numbers of redundancies in the city's construction and retail industries – including hundreds of staff at the city's five branches of defunct retailer Woolworths – have all added to the spike in those claiming benefits.
The Edinburgh North and Leith constituency has the highest number of claimants, with 2428 people in that area now on Jobseeker's Allowance.
One of the biggest jumps in claimants was in Edinburgh South, where it almost doubled to 1127.
It is thought that the true number of people looking for work in the Capital is masked because many of those laid off in professional sectors, such as legal and accountancy, are not claiming benefits.
John Barrett, Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West, who yesterday visited the High Riggs job centre, said: "I wanted to meet first-hand with job centre management and frontline staff to make sure that everything is in place to cope with the rise in unemployment across the city.
"For people who have recently lost their job, it is vital that the right help and support is available to help them move back into suitable work.
"The employment rate is holding up better in Edinburgh than in some other parts of the country, however the Government ought to be doing far more to create the jobs that the economy and local community needs."
Cllr Tom Buchanan, the city's economic development convener, said: "These figures show that we are not immune to the economic downturn.
"Our city's economic resilience plan is in place and will strengthen our ability to support those facing job losses.
"These are challenging times, but we have a diverse labour market with strengths in a range of sectors and we are continuing to promote the city to investors and businesses around the world, which will bring jobs and opportunities."
Unemployment figures for the Capital are expected to get worse as thousands of job cuts are still expected to come across the city's financial sector later this year.
However, the latest Office for National Statistics figures show that 2.8 per cent of the city's working age population is claiming Jobseeker's Allowance.
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