MG Rover demise leads to inflated unemployment figures

MG Rover demise leads to inflated unemployment figures

The collapse of the MG Rovers auto company has led to a rise in the unemployment figures in the UK as 6,000 people in the West Midlands signed on to claim benefits last month. As a result of this news, the Conservatives have started criticizing the government on the support to the auto industry in Britain.

David Willetts, the shadow secretary of state for trade and industry said in a statement to the press: “The figures are a sad benchmark in British manufacturing history. We now know that more than one million manufacturing jobs have been lost since Labor came to power.”

The number of people claiming jobseekers’ allowance overall rose by 13,200 in the month of May as per the records of the Office for National Statistics. This marks the longest consecutive stretch since the recession of 1992. David Blunkett, the Work and Pensions minister, defended the figures and said in a statement: “I think they are good news because they don’t scare the markets, they are not a worry to the Bank of England, but they do not show a downturn either.”

Whatever it may be the case; there are real challenges ahead for the Britain government in the coming days.