Mike Penning MP responds to unemployment figures that show a 46% rise in unemployment in Hemel Hempstead over the past year.

Hemel Hempstead MP, Mike Penning has responded to the release of figures which show that in the past 12 months unemployment has risen by 46.6% in the Hemel Hempstead constituency. The number of unemployed is now nearly double what it was in December 1997.

Mike said:
“These shocking unemployment figures tell the true story. The harsh reality is that 670 more people are now out of work in Hemel than at the same time last year. For every single person out of work, a whole family suffers.

“Since Labour came to power in 1997, unemployment in Hemel Hempstead has gone up by a staggering 94.6%.

“The Government has failed to help our small businesses which will be the engine of our economic recovery. It has been far too complacent about its failure to get money moving from the banks – banks that we bailed out – to small businesses that need it to grow and create new jobs.”