Region leads UK in job creation but jobless second highest - Chamber

The West Midlands continues to lead the field in job creation but unemployment in the region is the second highest in the UK.

Only the North East at 5.9 per cent had a higher number of people unemployed, said Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce (GBCC) in response to figures released today by the Office for National Statistics.

The number of jobless in the West Midlands dropped by 0.5 per cent to 5.3 per cent. while nationally unemployment fell by 0.1 per cent to 4.3 per cent.

However, over the past 12 months the region created 148,000 jobs and year-on-year comparison showed the West Midlands’ employment rate for August to October 2016 to August to October 2017 remains unchanged at 72.7 per cent.

Between June and September 2017, the largest increase in workforce jobs in the UK was in the West Midlands at 55,000, while the largest decrease was in Yorkshire and The Humber at 36,000.

Compared with the same month last year (September 2016), the largest increase in workforce jobs was in the West Midlands at 148,000.

Paul Faulkner (pictured), chief executive of the GBCC, said: “After hitting record employment nationally, it now looks as though there is some ‘softening’ in the labour market underway at national level as the employment rate fell slightly again this quarter.

“Wage growth also continues to lag behind inflation, leading to continued concerns about the impact on consumer demand.

“However, there was good news for the West Midlands as the region continues to lead the field in jobs creation, having created 148,000 workforce jobs over the past 12 months.”

“This positivity is echoed in the GBCC’s Quarterly Business Report for Q4 which showed that approximately a quarter of firms had increased the size of their workforce over the past three months and over a third plan to do so over the next three months.

“Despite the UK leading number of jobs created, the region’s employment rate remains static and the unemployment rate is the second highest in the country. We will be discussing the factors relating to skills gaps in the region at our next Quarterly Business Report launch event on the January 16.”