Jobless up in region but down nationally

The West Midlands remained a jobless blackspot today, despite national figures showing unemployment had dropped to 2.45 million.

The region's unemployment figure rose by 13,000 to 233,000, but the national figure was boosted by falling jobless numbers in London and the South West.

But the number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance across the region fell, mirroring figures from the Office of National Statistics that showed a 3,700 fall in the claimant count to 1.47 million. Not everyone classed as unemployed is eligible for the allowance.

In Birmingham the number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance fell 815 to 45,797 or 6.9 per cent of the working population — still way above the national claimant rate of 4.4 per cent.

In Walsall there was a drop of 87 to 9,594 or 6.1 per cent, while in Sandwell there was also a fall, of 191, to 12,079 or 6.6 per cent of the borough's working population.

Wolverhampton also witnessed a fall in the claimant count of 148 to 10,695 or seven per cent, and there was also a drop in Dudley of 222 to 9,223 or 4.8 per cent.

Kidderminster and Wyre Forest saw a fall of just two down to 2,187 or 3.6 per cent and the figure was also down in South Staffordshire, by 90 to 1,698 or 2.5 per cent of the district's working population.

There was a fall of 73 in Cannock Chase, to 2,209 or 3.6 per cent, and in Lichfield the figure was down 22 to 1,461 or 2.4 per cent. Stafford also saw a drop, of 80, to 1,756 or 2.2 per cent of the working population.

Nationwide, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures showed around 1.15 million people had part-time jobs or were self employed after failing to find a full-time position, an increase of 67,000 over the quarter to September and the highest total since records began in 1992.

Part-timers increased by 94,000 to 18.17 million, while self-employment rose by 112,000 to a record high of 4.03 million.

The ONS said it was the first time the so-called claimant count and the wider measure of unemployment had fallen together since the summer. There was also a fall in the number of people classed as economically inactive, including those looking after a sick relative or having given up looking for work. The figure was 83,000 down over the latest quarter to 9.27 million.

There was a 167,000 rise in employment to 29.19 million, including a 94,000 rise in part-timers. The number of full-time workers fell by 62,000 to reach 18.17 million, while part-time employment was almost eight million, up by 142,000 from the quarter to June.

Of this total, two million were men and almost six million were women.

Public sector employment, which is set to be hit by the Government's spending cuts, was down by 22,000 to 6.05 million, while employment in private firms increased by 308,000 to 23.11 million.