‘Deep concern’ as West Midlands unemployment rises again despite fall in national rate
UNEMPLOYMENT in the West Midlands has gone up again, the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show.
The increase of 0.7% to 9.8% – near to the one in ten mark – is in contrast to the national picture where the unemployment rate held steady at 7.8%.
Today’s figures revealed that 268,000 people were jobless in the region between March and May
The West Midlands has the second highest unemployment rate in the country (behind the North East where 10.4% of the adult population are jobless).
Worryingly, the 0.7% increase was the highest seen by any region over the three months to May.
Nationally, unemployment fell by 57,000 to 2.51m over the period.
The ONS also said that the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance in June fell by 21,200 to 1.48 million. This fall was the fastest rate in three years.
The ONS data also showed that employment was up by 16,000.
But although youth unemployment was down by 20,000, the number of long-term jobless rose by 15,000.
Business leaders expressed “deep concern” following today’s announcement.
Steve Brittan, president of Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, said: “This trend is of deep concern to us, given that our region suffers from a chronic skills shortage.
“Apprenticeships will be a crucial component in the bid to supply students with the skills required by companies in the region. The Chamber has been working with the National Apprenticeship Office to encourage businesses to take on apprentices.
“We are also working on a skills campaign to forge a better dialogue between business and schools, and to increase the awareness of students to the range of job prospects in the region.
“However, we do believe that the Government should do more to incentivise businesses to take on more staff. This will only be done by increasing confidence through economic measures are red tape, particularly that associated with taking people on.”
