Unemployment up 72% as wealthiest areas are hardest hit

SOME of the wealthiest suburbs of Edinburgh have been hit hardest by a massive jump in unemployment, the Evening News can reveal today.

Our study shows that Dalmeny/Kirkliston suffered a massive 238 per cent increase in unemployment in the last year, while the number of people signing on in Craiglockhart, Davidson's Mains and Newington has nearly tripled.

And scores of other well-heeled areas, including Morningside, Cramond, Balerno and Stockbridge have seen the number of people claiming Jobseekers Allowance more than double in the last year.

Across the city, unemployment has surged by 72 per cent in a year, from 5437 to 9374 in March this year. It is a result of many of the city's biggest employers in key sectors like financial services, retail, business services and property shedding staff in the wake of the downturn in the economy.

That means areas that would have been partially immune to previous recessions are now among the hardest hit.

Today's figures, compiled from Office for National Statistics data, give the clearest indication yet of the effect the recession is having on employment in the city.

And the situation is expected to get worse with job cuts thought to be imminent at Royal Bank of Scotland and Bank of Scotland.

Councillor Tom Buchanan, the city's economic development leader, said: "Everybody recognises that the consequences of this recession will be felt across the board. Areas that would have preciously felt exempt are suffering as much, or more than, others.

"These are concerning figures which the council's economic resilience plan hopes to address."

Today's figures show the number of people claiming Jobseekers Allowance in each council ward as the boundaries stood prior to 2007 changes.

The areas which have seen the biggest percentage rise in unemployment are those which have previously had relatively small numbers of people out of work.

The biggest increase across the whole city in the last year came in Dalmeny and Kirkliston, where there was a massive 238 per cent jump. While this time last year only 52 people claimed Jobseekers Allowance, there are now 176 from the area on the dole queue.

Similarly, unemployment benefit claims in Craiglockhart nearly tripled from only 21 a year ago to 62 in March this year.

And in Newington, 77 people signed on in March, 49 more than the same month a year ago.

Other areas to see unemployment more than double included Balerno, Colinton, Craigleith, Cramond, Fairmilehead, Moat, Corstorphine, North Morningside and The Grange, Sciennes, Stockbridge and Trinity.

Councillor Norman Work, who represents the Almond ward that includes Dalmeny and Kirkliston, said that while the area was hit by the closure of major employer Drambuie's headquarters in 2002, the decline in the last year is a result of the wider troubles.

"There is very little industry around now," he said. "There is a local garage, a pub and a Scotmid. There used to be a lot more industry associated with Kirkliston but people commute to Edinburgh, The Gyle or Edinburgh Park now.

"I can't put my finger on exactly why there would be such a big rise (in unemployment] but it must be the general economic situation. You look at the stores that have closed down and the banks that are struggling and that affects every area."

The areas of Edinburgh with the highest levels of unemployment had among the lowest rises in claimant numbers in the last year. Murrayburn, which includes parts of Sighthill and Wester Hailes has more people claiming unemployment benefits than anywhere else in the city.

However, its 393 claimants represented only a comparatively small 44 per cent rise on the previous year.

Similarly, Muirhouse/Drylaw saw a 35 per cent rise to 386, while unemployment in Craigmillar increased by 63 per cent to 356.

David Lonsdale, assistant director of leading employers group CBI Scotland, said: "Obviously we don't just have a recession this time around, we have a credit crunch as well. What that means is that some of the sectors affected this time round are those which have been not so badly affected in the past, such as financial services and associated service sectors

."

Last month, the Evening News revealed that Jobcentre Plus is to deploy up to 100 new temporary staff at its offices across Edinburgh to cope with rising demand as unemployment grows.

And Mr Lonsdale warned that Edinburgh's job centres are only going to get busier with no sign of an end to rising unemployment until later in 2010 at the earliest.

"We expect a continued deterioration this year and into next year with unemployment peaking at three million (UK-wide)," he said.

"It is a pretty bleak reality and unemployment is a lagging indicator, so even when growth starts to pick up it will still be several months after then that unemployment picks up."