Dec 2010 - South Worcestershire Development Plan

SOUTH WORCESTERSHIRE ANNUAL MONITORING REPORT 201048for the premises is often hard to find and at a premium. Congestionaround a city centre can also be a major problem (WCEA 09/10).100%90%80%70%60%50%40%30%20%10%0%5.1 6 6.424.231.821.812.720.55.22.720.54.726.622.25.515.321.92.911.44.219.2Malvern Hills Worcester WychavonOther servicesPublic administration,education & healthBanking, finance andinsurance, etcTransport andcommunicationsDistribution, hotels andrestaurantsConstructionManufacturingEnergy and waterAgriculture and fishingFigure 7: Employment by industry, workplace-based (WorcestershireCounty Economic Assessment, 2008).6.12 Unemployment can be a useful indicator when assessing the economicclimate. If unemployment starts to rise, it often suggests that people arebeing made redundant as businesses struggle to cope. Ifunemployment figures reduce, it can suggest that businesses areemploying more staff to meet demand from customers.6.13 Figure 8 illustrates the total number of people in Malvern Hills District,Worcester City and Wychavon District claiming unemployment benefitsbetween June 1985 and September 2010. The total number ofclaimants in South Worcestershire at September 2010 was 5,025. It isobserved the recent economic recession has had a direct impact on therising number of local people claiming unemployment benefits. Thoughit is still too early to ascertain likely future trends there has been anoticeable decline in the number of claimants when compared against2009.