Big fall in unemployment but still no room for complacency
UNEMPLOYMENT declined by 30,000 people in the West Midlands during the quarter April to June compared with the previous three months, latest figures have shown.
The region now has 224,000 people out of work, equivalent to a rate of 8.5%. The decline was one of the biggest falls in the UK during the three months, although the region is still above the UK average at 7.9%.
Nationally, there are 2.49m people out of work, an increase of 0.1%. Those unemployed for six months increased by 66,000 to 1.23m – the largest quarterly increase since the three months to June 2009.
Despite the big fall in the region’s total, the number of jobless is still 3,000 (0.2%) above what it was in the April to June period last year.
Birmingham Chamber of Commerce Group said the figures underlined the need for the Government to encourage enterprise.
Christine Braddock, chamber president, said: “Replacing business rates, lowering levels of planning and cutting legislation is the only way to encourage businesses to invest and take on more staff.”
The chamber said micro businesses employed 20.2% of all private sector employees in the UK and 21.1% of the turnover generated by the private sector comes from sole traders or firms with less than 10 staff members.
In the latest quarterly economic survey conducted by the chamber group, 35% of businesses said they were experiencing recruitment difficulties. A total of 58 % of manufacturers expected their workforce to stay the same and the figure was 68% in the service sector.
Mike Ashton, spokesman for West Midlands Chambers of Commerce, said: “Although the drop in figures is probably due to people going back to university and leaving the employment market, we should not rest on our laurels.
“The West Midlands has been one of the hardest hit regions and it is vital that government gives business the tools it needs to create jobs.”
Louise Bennett, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “The figures are disappointing if not unexpected and they highlight that much more needs to be done.
“I saw Lord Digby Jones’s comments about scrapping employer National Insurance contributions and while some may think that’s going too far, we need radical thinking to help companies grow and take on new staff.
“In any climate, but particularly the current one, Government needs to make it as easy as possible for businesses – especially SMEs – to take on new people.”
