Unemployment across the UK is clustered into 'pockets of poverty', according to a TUC report published later this month. Regional Development Agencies need extra funding to develop their regions' economy in a way that tackles unemployment, poverty and low productivity, says the TUC report. The 10 worst areas in the UK for unemployment are spread across the country, with half in London, three in the North East, one in the North West, and one in Scotland. All have unemployment rates of more than one in ten:

• Hackney - 16.4% - 14,000
• Newham - 13.5% - 12,000
• Dundee City - 12.8% - 9,000
• Haringey - 12.7% - 13,000
• Middlesbrough - 12.4% - 8,000
• Southwark - 12.1% - 13,000
• South Tyneside - 11.9% - 8,000
• Tower Hamlets - 11.8% - 9,000
• Liverpool - 11.1% - 21,000
• Newcastle upon Tyne - 11% - 14,000

The national unemployment rate is 5.3%, but the 1997 manifesto commits the Government to pursuing 'full employment in every region.' The unemployment rate between the English regions is as follows:

• North East - 7.6% (worst in Middlesbrough - 12.4% - 8,000)
• London - 6.8% (Hackney - 16.4% - 14,000)
• West Midlands - 5.6% (worst in Birmingham - 10.5% - 46,000)
• North West - 5.1% (Liverpool - 11.1% - 21,000)
• Yorkshire & Humberside - 5% (worst in Bradford - 8.2% - 19,000)
• East Midlands - 4.7% (worst in Leicester - 8.5% - 11,000)
• Eastern England - 3.8% (worst in Norwich - 9.1% - 6,000)
• South West - 3.5% (worst in Torbay - 5.6% - 3,000)
• South East - 3.3% (worst in Thanet - 9.8% - 6,000)

TUC General Secretary, John Monks, said: "People who live in poverty in Britain, do so together. The solution to cracking these 'pockets of poverty' is not to try and make every regional economy like those of south eastern England, nor is it to flood them with make-work schemes. The solution is complex, multifaceted and involves the redistribution of resources and a genuine transfer power.

"This new TUC report shows why Regional Development Agencies need extra funding and explains what they can do to boost the regional economy and tackle these 'pockets of poverty'. Britain faces more than just a North-South divide when it comes to unemployment and productivity. Building on the indigenous strength of a region's economy and retraining workers for the future will require strategically targeting funding to projects which will deliver at a local level."