Better news for West Midlands as unemployment falls by 14,000
The West Midlands has received some welcome employment news with the number of people out of work in the region falling by 14,000.
By the end of the August to October period, there were 150,000 people classed as unemployed in the West Midlands, equivalent to a rate of 5.3%.
However, the rate is still one of the worst in the country, with only the North East higher (5.9%).
The region remains a long way off the national unemployment rate of 4.3%, which equates to 1.43m people – a 26,000 fall on the May to July quarter.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show the West Midlands’ employment rate saw a slight improvement on the May to July quarter, rising 0.2% to a figure of 72.7%. This remains a way off the national trend, where the rate is 75.1%.
More encouragingly, between June and September 2017, the largest increase in workforce jobs in the UK was in the West Midlands at 55,000.
Business leaders in the region looked to stress the positives from the latest figures.
Paul Faulkner, chief executive of the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, said after hitting record employment nationally, it now looked as though there was some ‘softening’ in the labour market at national level.
“Wage growth also continues to lag behind inflation, leading to continued concerns about the impact on consumer demand,” he said.
“However, there was good news for the West Midlands as the region continues to lead the field in jobs creation, having created 148,000 workforce jobs over the past 12 months.”
