Data released by the House of Commons Library shows there were 770 people aged 18-24 claiming unemployment support in March 2023, across the Oldham East and Saddleworth constituency, that is 9% of the local population, almost double the UK rate of 4.8%.

Across all age groups there were 4,295 actual claimants across the constituency in March 2023 – 960 more people than in March 2020 before the first lockdown – equivalent to 6.5% of the Oldham East and Saddleworth population, aged 16-64, again much higher than the UK rate of 3.7%.

Debbie Abrahams, MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, and a member of the Work and Pensions Select Committee, reacted to the most recent labour market data, saying:

“13 years of a flatlining economy including a Budget last September that crashed the economy and threatened the pensions of hundreds of thousands of older people, has meant that since 2010 central Government grants to Oldham have been halved. This means there’s less money for investment and as we can see absolutely no levelling up.

“On top of this, there’s been a record fall in real wages for those who are in work, during a brutal cost of living crisis.

“I support the work that’s been done locally to try to combat this, for example in the ‘Get Oldham Working’ scheme, the various Jobs Fairs across the borough, and the Good Employment Charter that Oldham introduced following my Oldham Fairness Commission and which trailed Oldham as the first Living Wage Borough in Greater Manchester. These go some way to help, as will the skills budget that will soon be devolved to Oldham from Greater Manchester Combined Authority. But it’s not enough.

“There is so much talent in Oldham and Saddleworth – my annual Summer School for young people, now in it’s 10^th year, has given me a wonderful insight to this. But the Tories continue to hold us back.

“The Conservatives are lumbering from crisis to crisis with no concerns or answers for Oldham.

“Labour will invest in our people. We will support them into and returning to work, with our mission to secure the highest sustainable growth in the G7, create good, quality jobs and enhance productivity across every part of our country, including here in Oldham.”