Unemployment figures for January show a rise of Thanet people out of work, up 2% – equating to 90 people – on rates for December. This follows a 4.2% rise in unemployment between October and November and a 3.7% rise between November and December.
Overall the unemployment rate for the isle stands at 5.6% of the working age population, amounting to 4,620 people. This is the highest rate in the county with Gravesham having the next highest rate at 4.4%. The Kent average is 3.4%.
Thanet has the second highest rate of youth unemployment in the south east with 900 claimants aged between 18 and 24, a rate of 9.8% – up from 9.4% last month- compared to the Kent average of 5.2% and the national average of 5%. Hastings has the highest youth unemployment rate in the south east at some 10%.
Thanet wards with the highest rate of people currently unemployed are Margate Central, at 11,4%, Cliftonville West at 11% and Dane Valley at 8.1% followed by Newington at 7.4%.
In Kent unemployment rates have increased by 2.1% (+660) since December with 32,810 people in the county claiming unemployment benefits in January 2024.
‘Scandal’
County Councillor Karen Constantine said: “It’s an absolute scandal that Thanet still has such high unemployment rates – it’s also startling and concerning that we still have the highest youth unemployment rates in the South East.
“KCC has done nothing to tackle this important matter, instead they have cut vital youth services and have stopped subsidising buses to Canterbury, which has curtailed social mobility by making achieving A-levels nigh on impossible unless students are already enrolled in a grammar school.
“Instead of tackling this crisis head-on, we’ve had to witness KCC wasting many millions on folly’s like Thanet Parkway, whilst South Thanet MP Craig Mackinlay has failed to generate any inward investment or jobs since first being elected in 2015.
“Our young people should be a top priority. We should be investing in them. I will be raising this at KCC at next week’s annual budget meeting.
“We cannot let our young people continue to be treated as Kent’s second class citizens.”
Jobcentre fairs and training
Thanet’s Job Centre recruitment specialist Nick Gurr works with employers across the isle to support people to move into work.
He says Thanet Jobcentres are continuing to work with a number of employers who are looking for staff and hold fortnightly recruitment fairs.
He said: “We now have two external locations where we hold our fortnightly recruitment events to support claimants to find work.
“Margate Caves and Ramsgate Salvation Army have agreed we can use their premises to hold these events going forward.
“The Margate Caves was a successful recruitment event on January 31, we were blown away by the buzz in the room where employers can meet candidates face to face for the first time.”
Some 60 people attended with many being offered second interviews. Employers on the day included My Life Homecare, AKON Security, APS Salads, Calibre cleaning and Tradewind Recruitment.
Providers also supported the event with East Kent College offering training, Margate Caves volunteering roles, Age UK, Princes Trust and National Career Service offering advice on skills, CVs and careers advice.
Nicholas added: “Follow up interviews have been booked with employers seen on the day and both Jobcentres have arranged for two local social healthcare companies, My Life Homecare and Care Tech, to interview claimants directly in the Jobcentre which is free for employers to use if working directly with us.
“G4S recently held a group information session simultaneously in Margate and Dartford jobcentres delivered through MS Teams and projected onto a screen in the training room to talk to potential candidates about their Ambulance Care Assistant Driver role. G4S was delighted with this setup as they able to do this without leaving the office to talk to many candidates at both jobcentres with the chance to answer any questions raised.
Jobcentre work coaches can refer people to sector-based training. Courses currently running or planned include how to join the civil service, customer service, getting into childcare, construction and security.
For details of fairs and courses talk to your Jobcentre work coach.
The UK unemployment rate for those aged 16 years and over was 3.8% last month.
The UK claimant count for January 2024 increased by 14,100 on the previous month and by 61,200 on the year to 1.579 million.
