Hackney is the toughest place to find a job in London, according to figures released by the trade union Unison.
More than 20 people are chasing every job in the borough, making Hackney the second hardest place to find a job in Britain after the Isle of Wight.
Hackney is the worst hit local authority in Greater London, with a ratio five times greater than the national average. The borough is closely followed by Lewisham, where there are 20 people for every vacancy.
The figures are based on the number of people claiming Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) compared to the number of vacancies advertised in the borough’s job centres.
Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison said: “The scale of the ongoing jobs crisis is deeply worrying. Three long years of cuts – with more to come – and still there are not enough jobs to go around.
“The Government has got it wrong on the recession and it has sacrificed our recovery. As well as laying waste to our public services, cuts have a stranglehold on the private sector.”
While these figures, from December 2012, show the highest ratio in London, they are steadily falling from a peak of 26 job seekers per job advertised two months before.
However, the statistics only take into account those who are eligible for JSA payments. The figure may in fact be higher.
Speaking to the Hackney Post, job seekers at the Jobcentre Plus on Mare Street were not surprised by the figures. One JSA claimant said: “Looking around you it’s no surprise things are so bad. I’m here week in, week out applying for whatever I can get my hands on – it’s just not happening. Now people are gonna have to start paying more housing benefit it’s only going to get worse.”
The Department for Work and Pensions have pointed out that the number of private sector jobs created since 2010 has so far been larger than the number of public sector jobs cut during the same period.
Within the borough itself employment rates vary substantially. Clissold ward has the highest proportion of residents in work at 66.2 per cent and Springfield the lowest with just under half in employment.
