Future Looks A Bit Brighter

Friday July 2010, 18:51:15

THE UK Government will seek to target Lanarkshire’s high unemployment rate and ease the misery for people of all ages, Scots Secretary Jim Murphy told a jobs summit last week.Speaking at South Lanarkshire College in East Kilbride, he told a meeting of local business and civic leaders that much has been achieved in the county but there is still a lot to be done – including increased support for people aged over 25 who are seeking work.The proportion of the working age population claiming Jobseekers allowance in both North and South Lanarkshire is higher than the overall Scottish rate of 4.2 per cent (5.5 per cent and 4.7 per cent respectively).There are over 90,000 unemployed people over 25 in Scotland – and more than 14,000 of them are in Lanarkshire.Mr Murphy encouraged further bids to the Government's Future Jobs Fund which has already created 3176 jobs for 18- 24-year-olds in Scotland in its first six months, and said there is no reason they cannot be targeted at older people.The Future Jobs Fund was announced in the last Budget. It is a UK-wide fund of around £1 billion to support the creation of jobs for long-term unemployed young people and others who face significant disadvantage in the labour market.