UNEMPLOYMENT in Oxfordshire is now at its highest level since just before the Labour Government came to power in 1997, new figures have revealed.

And one unemployed man tonight said conditions for jobseekers in Oxford were the worst he had ever seen.

Latest figures for March show 9,174 people claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance in the county, a rise of 730 or 8.6 per cent on the previous month – and the highest since October 1996.

There are now over 5,400 more people signing on in the county than a year ago.

And in Oxford alone, the figure has shot up by 10.3 per cent to 2,812, with the ranks of the unemployed swelled by the 850 agency workers who lost their jobs at the Cowley Mini plant.

Nationally, the number of people claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance increased for the 13th month in a row in March, up by 73,700 to 1.46 million.

Colin and Jessica Hall, from Iffley Road, Oxford, who have a three-year-old daughter Shannon, have both been unemployed for the last six months.

Mr Hall, a cleaner, who was made redundant from his job at Unipart last October, said: “The figures don’t surprise – I’ve lived in Oxford all my life and have never seen things this bad.” Mrs Hall, a qualified childminder, is also looking for work.

She said: “There is just nothing out there. It’s a real struggle. We get about £130 a week in benefit, and it helps, but it’s not enough for a family of three.”

Alex Christie, 31, a painter and decorator, from Blackbird Leys, was made redundant last Friday.

He said: “There’s not one single job in Oxfordshire for my trade. I think the next nearest opportunity is in Scotland. There are a couple of labouring jobs but I got a trade for a reason. Having said that, after a few weeks I might not have any other choice.”

The Oxford Trades Union Council is staging a jobs rally on Saturday, May 2, in Oxford to protest at the growing number of redundancies in the county over the last year.

Speakers will include representatives from the Unite car workers union based at the Mini plant, the health union Unison and the Communication Workers Union representing Post Office workers. Postal workers will see the closure of the main Cowley sorting office in June with the loss of more than 450 jobs.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said tonight: “These are another set of grim figures.

“There are no green shoots here, and there will be no real recovery until unemployment starts coming down.”