Mid Bedfordshire MP Blake Stephenson has urged the Government to do more to support businesses after unemployment in the UK hit a four year high.
Unemployment has jumped to 4.7 per cent, its highest level since the height of COVID in 2021, real wage growth has fallen to just 1.1 per cent, and the number of people on payroll has plummeted by over 164,000 jobs since the Autumn Budget.
This means that means more families struggling to pay the bills and more people signing on for benefits, including 5,632 in Mid Bedfordshire - a rise of 603 compared to July 2024 when Labour came to power.
The last Conservative Government oversaw the number of people in work increase by over 4 million, the unemployment rate nearly halved from 8.0 per cent in 2010 to 4.2 per cent in June 2024, and real wages had growth for thirteen months in a row.
Blake Stephenson MP said: "Unfortunately this news comes as no surprise - we've been warning the Government about their tax hikes on businesses since they were first elected, but they ignored us and now it is people in Mid Bedfordshire who are suffering.
"It is businesses who create jobs and create growth in our country, and Labour has hit them hard with taxes and regulation, and we're expecting more to come in the Autumn to pay for Labour's failures.
"Unemployment increasing means more people being forced to claim Universal Credit creating a higher burden on public finances so I hope the Government will get re-think its policies and help people get back into work."
