"Campaign for jobs is my number one priority," says Ian Swales

The Office for National Statistics has published new unemployment figures for the country.

The statistics for April 2010 show an unofficial unemployment rate of 10% in Redcar constituency – the 41st worst in England and the 46th worst in Great Britain, according to the rating.

The Job Seekers’ Allowance claimant rate in Redcar constituency is 6.9%. This includes 1,180 under the age of 25 (a rise of 0.4% since April 2009), 1,955 between the ages of 25 and 49 (a rise of 12.7% since April 2009) and 545 over-50s (a rise of 32.9%).

New Redcar MP Ian Swales said, “these figures make grim reading and underline the desperate local job situation. With redundancies continuing from Corus, things are unlikely to improve in the short term. The campaign for jobs is my number one priority.”