A BUSINESS leader and MPs today expressed concern after unemployment across East Lancashire rose by almost 15 per cent in the past month.

Despite the rise, the figures are better than those for the same month last year when almost 8,000 were looking for a job in East Lancashire.

But it is in sharp contrast to the national position, which has seen the jobless total fall for the fourth month in succession.

And Mike Damms, chief executive of the East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, said he was concerned that the underlying trend was being created by the loss of manufacturing jobs in the area, a situation due to become worse in the coming months.

Figures released by the Employment Service show that the number of people looking for a job in Blackburn, Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle, Ribble Valley and Rossendale has increased to 7,489.

The biggest jump in the jobless totals came in Hyndburn where there was a 24 per cent increase in the number of people claiming Jobseekers' Allowance to 1,049.

Even in the prosperous Ribble Valley, which still has the lowest unemployment rate in the North West, there was a sharp rise in the number of people out of work.

And while many of the 973 jobs that have been lost over the New Year period can be put down to seasonal employment, industry chiefs were worried about the underlying economic trends.

Traditionally, companies like Express Gifts in Church take on hundreds of temporary workers to cope with a surge in orders in the run-up to Christmas.

Mr Damms said: "The job losses will be predominantly seasonal but the rise in unemployment is worrying, given that we know there are future job losses in the pipeline at companies like Michelin in Burnley and Rolls-Royce at Barnoldswick."

Nigel Evans, the Conservative MP for the Ribble Valley, described the rising tide of jobless as "very disturbing".

He said: "No doubt these are manufacturing jobs which are going."

"We cannot afford to go on losing manufacturing jobs in East Lancashire and the North West.

Burnley MP Peter Pike was also concerned at news of the rise in unemployment.

"We know that unemployment is moving up slightly because of job losses in manufacturing, particularly aerospace. It is a matter I am pursuing with ministers.

The latest data provided by the Employment Service is effectively a snapshot of the number of people claiming unemployment benefit on January 10 2002.

Compared with the figures produced for December 2001, when 6,516 people were claiming benefit, there was a 14.93 per cent increase over the Christmas period to January.

The unemployment rates for the East Lancashire districts are, now: Blackburn with Darwen, 4.2 per cent; Burnley, 3.1 per cent; Hyndburn, 3.2 per cent; Pendle 3.8 per cent; Ribble Valley 1.1 per cent; and Rossendale 2.6 per cent.

The average figure for the UK is 3.2 per cent: North West 3.9 per cent; and 3 per cent for Lancashire.