Region bucks unemployment trend as firms recruit to fulfil orders
THE needs of many firms in the West Midlands to fulfil bulging order books in the wake of the EU referendum has had a clear impact on the region’s unemployment figures.
Data for the August to October period shows the region bucked the national trend to record a dramatic fall of 25,000 in its unemployment total, when compared with the May to July quarter.
By the end of October there were 151,000 people unemployed in the region, a rate of 5.3% – still above the UK average, despite the fall.
Nationally, there were 1.62m people unemployed, a rate of 4.8%.
The fall during the August to October period was 16,000, indicating increasing levels elsewhere in the country partially offset the West Midlands’ fall.
However, the national unemployment rate is now the lowest it has been since the July to September quarter in 2005.
The UK employment rate was 74.4%, down slightly on the May to July quarter of 74.5%.
The strength of the West Midlands jobs market was illustrated by a 0.9% increase in its employment rate for August to October to 72.8% – that is equivalent to 54,000 people finding jobs.
The West Midlands is bucking the national trend when it comes to both employment and unemployment, thanks to a booming local economy.
Commenting, Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce chief executive Paul Faulkner said: “The West Midlands’ labour market continues to buck national trends as another period of strong jobs performance contrasts against weaker showings in other UK regions.
“These improvements indicate that the region’s economy is strong and crucially sees our employment and unemployment rates moving closer to national averages.”
However, he said the region still had a number of challenges to overcome if it was to sustain the performance, notably on skills development.
“As more of the West Midlands’ population moves into employment businesses are searching for talent in an increasingly small pool,” he added.
In Coventry, the claimant count dropped from 4,375 to 4,165 and, in Warwickshire, it fell from 3,685 to 3,585 – a drop of 310 across the city and the county.
Louise Bennett, the chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “Such a significant drop is extremely positive news for Coventry and Warwickshire.”
