Extra jobs have not been created in the UK’s struggling seaside towns despite the decision to holiday on home soil by millions of cash-strapped holidaymakers, new TUC figures have revealed.
Some coastal resorts have seen their unemployment rate more than double over the past 12 months, shattering hopes that the rise of the so-called “staycation” would provide a much-needed boost for unemployed people in the areas, according to the Independent.
The South has been the hardest hit by high unemployment rates, the TUC analysis showed.
Bournemouth’s unemployment rate rose by 130% to 4% last month, up from 1.8% in July 2008.
Unemployment in Weston-super-Mare rose by 122% on last year’s total.
In the constituency of South Dorset, the number of people out of work shot up by 113%.
In Southend, Clacton-on-Sea and Margate, unemployment rose by at least 70% since last summer.
Brendan Barber, the general secretary of the TUC, said the report confirmed that any evidence of an economic recovery was “very shallow”.
