Birmingham, other cities in the North of England and Glasgow have so far suffered the biggest job losses during this recession.

A new report from the Work Foundation shows that in the 12 months to February, Birmingham suffered the largest rise in the number of people claiming unemployment benefit – up by 12,383 over the year. Leeds has seen the number of claimants climb by just under 9,000 and Glasgow, Sheffield, Hull, Manchester and Bradford have all seen claimant numbers rising by over 5000 during this period.

Naomi Clayton, senior researcher at The Work Foundation, said:

“Places in the eye of the storm as job losses mount are the UK’s core cities and areas associated with traditional manufacturing - places which in many cases had yet to recover fully from previous recessions before this one set in.

“In terms of absolute numbers of new people signing on for JSA, it is the core cities of the north and midlands that are worst hit. Perhaps more revealing, though, are the council areas that have seen the sharpest upward movements in unemployment rates. These tell a story of a more traditional UK recession: some areas which had yet to experience the economic prosperity enjoyed by others are once more showing how vulnerable they are to downturns, especially if dependent on single employers.

“Policymakers ignore how recessions play out locally at their peril.”