The Metropolis

Jobs: What's Hackney doing that Newham isn't?

Mike Pollitt | Wednesday 16 November, 2011 16:55

London’s unemployment rate has hit 10%, after rounding, according to figures released this morning by the ONS. Londonlovesbusiness delved behind the upward trend last month:

The high level of unemployment in London is driven to a significant extent by specific areas, such as Newham, Tower Hamlets and Hackney,” explains Dr Paul Sissons, a research fellow at the Institute of Unemployment Studies. “There are certain groups in the UK and London population who are disproportionately out of work – parents with low qualifications, ethnic minorities – and those groups are particularly concentrated in these boroughs.”

But a look at the figures doesn’t quite back this up, at least where Hackney is concerned. The latest borough by borough breakdown I can get hold of takes us up to March this year. Here’s how it looks for two of the supposedly poorer boroughs, Newham and Hackney.

Two things to say: firstly that Newham’s employment rate of 53.7% is shocking. That it might be even lower were it not a recipient of so much Olympic cash is a dismal thought.

Secondly, Hackney’s reputation is in need of adjustment. These figures show it to have an employment rate higher than Westminster, Islington, Southwark, and Hammersmith and Fulham, among others. So, some questions. Is this gentrification in action? Is there an underclass missing out on the relative prosperity the borough is currently enjoying (viz riots)? Or is it time to take Hackney off the watch list and focus some of the media and political attention elsewhere?

---