Croydon has so far managed to avoid the effects of the global economic downturn since the US terror attacks but figures released last week showed rising unemployment in the UK for the first time in a decade.

The number of people out of work and claiming benefit increased by 4,300 in October to 951,000, a result of widespread cutbacks in the aftermath of September 11.

Claimant count unemployment had been falling since 1992 and stood at just over 940,000 in September but the latest increase of 11,000 is seen as the beginning of a possible recession in the UK economy.

With British Airways and Virgin making 5,200 and 1,200 redundancies nationwide and cutting trans-Atlantic services from Gatwick Airport, some of the estimated 6,000 Croydon residents working at Gatwick could face redundancy.

And job cuts are not restricted to the travel industry, with motor giant Rolls-Royce, insurance giant Prudential and mobile telephone giant Vodafone all recently announcing cuts.

Vodafone has a major call centre in Croydon which employs 917 staff and of 650 UK-wide redundancies announced last month, 60 will affect Croydon.

Rolls-Royce announced 3,200 manufacturing cuts last month but the Waddon-based power plant is so far unaffected.

The government insists there are enough vacancies in the jobs market to rule out a return to high unemployment and recession and they are relying on buoyant retail and service sectors to keep the economy afloat. This week B&Q, who employ 309 people at the Croydon store, announced the creation of 4,000 jobs nationwide over the next year. The Croydon store will not benefit but at the nearby Sutton store, 100 positions are available.

The retail economy in Croydon is still going strong, with many stores expecting a bumper festive season.

The Whitgift Centre's marketing manager Luisa Sidoli said: "Trade is going according to plan. We are hoping that it continues throughout the busy Christmas period and we have every indication it will do so.''

But the Croydon Chamber of Commerce has warned job cuts will have an impact on the retail economy.

November 21, 2001 16:30