Number of jobless is dropping

Jobless figures across the region bucked the national trend today, with a fall of 6,000 in the number of people unemployed in the West Midlands, to 166,000.But nationwide unemployment has increased by 21,000 while earnings growth is running at its highest level for three years, according to new figures.

The number of people out of work in the three months to February was 1.69 million, the worst figure since last autumn and up by 120,000 over the year.

But the claimant count, which covers people on jobseeker's allowance, fell by 9,200 last month to 910,800, the lowest total since the end of 2005, said the Office for National Statistics.

Across the Black Country the claimant count fell by 831 people last month, or 2.8 per cent, to 29,691. In Dudley the number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance fell by 219 to 6,566, or 3.6 per cent of the local workforce.

In Sandwell the claimant count was down by 321 to 8,697, or five per cent, while in Walsall it was down 164 to 6,948, or 4.6 per cent.

Wolverhampton saw a drop of 127, to 7,480 or 5.1 per cent. But in Cannock Chase it rose by 31 to 1,413, or 2.4 per cent, and was up by seven in Lichfield, to 845, or 1.5 per cent.