Better news for West Midlands unemployment as register drops 15,000
THE West Midlands has received some encouraging news on unemployment with the level dropping 15,000 quarter on quarter.
The fall has been welcomed by business leaders although concerns remain about the region’s high rate of 9.5% – only exceeded by the 10.2% figure in the North East.
Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show that in the July to September quarter there were 257,000 people unemployed in the region, down 15,000 (0.7%) on the April to June quarter.
The position is also more encouraging than this time 12 months ago when there was an additional 22,000 people on the unemployment register.
Nationally the figures were less impressive – down just 48,000 (0.2%) to 2.47m; a rate of 7.6%.
In the important 16-24-year-old bracket there were 965,000 unemployed for the quarter – a rate of 21%. However, this is down 9,000 (0.4%) on the April to June period.
Figures for the Greater Birmingham & Solihull LEP area show a further monthly decrease from 58,238 (6.5%) in September to 55,550 (6.2%) in October.
This compares to 66,089 (7.4%) in October 2012 and 69,103 (7.7%) in October 2011.
Andy Street, GBSLEP chair, said: “While we are always cautious about putting too much faith in statistics presented in isolation, the continuing downward trend in unemployment in Greater Birmingham is encouraging.
“For the ninth successive month, the total has either decreased or remained static and we would hope this is a pattern that continues.
“If we look at this alongside Greater Birmingham’s success in attracting inward investment and our recent figures that show 19,000 new private sector jobs were created in 2011-12, we see plenty to provide us with cautious optimism.”
He said there was a feeling businesses in the area were fighting back and are gradually turning the corner.
“With the work were are doing as a LEP and the exciting proposals being developed as part of our submission to the Local Growth Fund, we have longer-term job creation plans that will take us further,” he added.
Tim Pile, new president of Birmingham Chamber of Commerce said he hoped the decline was not solely due to seasonal variations.
He said: “There are longstanding issues with up-skilling young people that need to be addressed in a sustainable way. Building the dialogue between business and education is a 15 to 20 year process but we absolutely need to start now.”
He said more companies were looking to recruit, but they were absorbing skilled workers from adjacent regions.
Richard Halstead, EEF Midlands Region Director, said: “Today’s labour market figures add to an improving picture for the UK economy. The data also continues to show that manufacturers are offering jobs of a higher quality than in the rest of the economy overall.
“Companies of all sizes in manufacturing are offering better salaries, benefits and training than most if not all other sectors and, at a time, when we need the brightest and best to enter the sector we need to ensure that data which backs this up is more widely recognised.”
Louise Bennett, the chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “This is encouraging news and very much reflects the surveys we have undertaken with business over recent months.
“Many companies we have spoken to have said they intend to take on new staff and expand and we are seeing that in the unemployment figures.
“But we should be under no illusion that this trend will just persist without continued hard work and pro-business policies, which we hope to see more of in the Autumn Statement next month.”
Neil Carberry, CBI Director of Employment and Skills, said the figures showed further signs of recovery.
“It is really pleasing to see more regions benefiting from job creation. It’s clear that pay restraint is continuing to underpin employment growth. We expect wages to pick up next year, but sustained growth must come first to protect jobs.”
