East London hardest hit by job cuts
The stark economic divide in London was laid bare today by figures showing dole queues growing in the east but falling in the west.
People in many areas in the east have struggled to find new private sector jobs in the last year while cuts in public sector posts are set to increase.
The claimant count rose by 5.1 per cent in Hackney South & Shoreditch in the year to December and by five per cent in Camberwell & Peckham.
It also went up in East Ham, West Ham, Eltham, Erith & Thamesmead, Greenwich & Woolwich, Lewisham Deptford and Bermondsey & Southwark.
To the west, the only constituency to see a rise was Brent Central. In contrast, the biggest falls were in Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (21.4 per cent), Kingston & Surbiton (20.9 per cent) and Wimbledon (18.4 per cent) .
John Philpott, of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, said east London, where unemployment tends to be higher, was "most likely" to be hit first during economic slowdowns. He added that private sector employment in London "has primarily benefited better placed and more employable people in west London".
