MP disappointed by rise in local unemployment but confident about the future jobs picture
Local MP Brian Donohoe has expressed disappointment at the latest unemployment statistics, which reveal a further 90 people are claiming job seekers allowance in Central Ayrshire compared with last month. However, he remains quietly confident that the constituency can buck the national trend.
‘The increase in unemployment here in the last month amounts to 0.2 per cent, which is certainly not welcome. However, it is half the national increase of 0.4%. I know that businesses in Central Ayrshire are working extremely hard, and as a result order books appear to be healthy, so I am confident we can buck the national trend so long as we put our minds to it. I am encouraged, for example, by developments at Prestwick Airport – one of the main centres of employment in the constituency – and where the trend is still upwards. ‘
‘Of the ninety people who lost their jobs in the last month, eighty were down to events at Glaxo Smith Klein. As for next month, we already know about the closure of the NACCO fork lift truck plant in Irvine, where there will be two phases of job losses that have been on the cards since last year. So we must brace ourselves for another increase as a result of these known events. Beyond that I am confident the local economy is such that we can hold our own in the jobs market’.