Unemployment sees significant increase in the West Midlands
UNEMPLOYMENT in the West Midlands rose by 8,000 during the first quarter of this year, latest figures have shown.
The figures reflect the decline in demand experienced across almost all sectors during the first three months, which was a hang-over from the slowing economy seen in the final quarter of 2015.
According to the figures from the Office for National Statistics, the number of people classed as unemployed in the West Midlands rose to 154,000 for the January to March period. The unemployment rate went up 0.2 percentage points on the period October to December 2015, to 5.5%.
The increase was the sharpest in the country except for the South West.
Nationally, the figures were flat for the first quarter with a decline of 2,000 people being insufficient to register on the graph. There are now 1.69m people classed as unemployed.
The figures for the West Midlands are a disappointment following positive news on unemployment for much of 2015. One crumb of comfort is that the current picture is still much better than the situation 12 months ago when there were 24,000 more people out of work.
The Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce opted to put a positive spin on the figures.
Paul Faulkner, the chamber’s chief executive, said: “Today’s statistics highlight the positive progress being made by the West Midlands.
“Although our unemployment rate rose slightly on the previous quarter, we have seen a 0.9% improvement compared to this time last year.
“Given our historic difficulties with regional unemployment, this achievement is to be applauded however there is still work to be done if we are to catch up to national averages.”
He said the figures were in line with the chamber’s latest Quarterly Business Survey, which showed a 9% fall in the number of West Midlands firms facing recruitment difficulties compared with the previous quarter.
“Digging deeper into the statistics showed that this improvement had been particularly tangible for manufacturers with our Q1 2016 figures highlighting a 33% reduction in the number of firms reporting hiring difficulties,” added Mr Faulkner.
“Our research also highlights improved confidence within the West Midlands business community with a 7% increase in firms attempting to recruit over the previous quarter. Given that the majority of the jobs recruited for were full-time, permanent positions, this is a sure signal of the health of the West Midlands economy.”
