Jobless total down

Unemployment fell in Stafford, Cannock and Lichfield between May and July.

Latest figures show there was a fall of 28,000 in the numbers out of work to 1.65 million over the period, but the trend in the West Midlands was rising unemployment.

The region's jobless total was up by 12,000 to 182,000.

In Cannock Chase the number out of work fell by 17 to 1,104 or 1.9 per cent. In Stafford it was down 11 to 995, or 1.3 per cent, while in Lichfield it was down just two to 697, or 1.2 per cent. For South Staffordshire the claimant count rose by 10 to 995, or 1.6 per cent.

Wolverhampton saw a drop of six, to 7,233, or five per cent of the workforce, but the claimant count was up by 124 in Sandwell, to 7,947 or 4.6 per cent.

It was up 75 to 5,866 people, or 3.2 per cent of the working population, in Dudley and up by 96 to 5,974, or four per cent, in Walsall.

Nationally the number claiming jobseeker's allowance fell by 4,200 last month to 852,900, according to figures released today by the Office for National Statistics.