Jobs crisis hits London’s East End with 15 people chasing every vacancy

Shock figures this week show 15 people out of work for every vacancy in London’s deprived East End.

There were 10,605 unemployed in Tower Hamlets and only 713 vacancies, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The Government was slated by Bethnal Green & Bow MP Rushanara Ali this week for not addressing the crisis.

“This Government is failing to support those who have found themselves out of work,” she said. “This is a particularly difficult time to be unemployed.

“These figures show that this Government is completely failing to address unemployment, with nearly three million unemployed, including a million young people—that isn’t good enough.”

Tower Hamlets, among Britain’s most deprived boroughs, was the ninth-worst local authority area in the country for unemployment, according to the national returns. Neighbouring Hackney was even worse, the fifth worst-area, with 10,400 claimants, but nearly 200 few jobs around than in the East End itself.

Tower Hamlets council’s Labour Opposition spokesman on jobs, Anwar Khan, said: “These statistics have show the scale of the unemployment challenge facing us, with 15 people chasing every job—it’s clear Tower Hamlets is crying out for action.”

Labour is accusing the mayor’s independent Town Hall administration of missing its targets on joblessness.