Unemployment fall in West Midlands is largest in UK

Across the West Midlands it fell by 19,000 to 203,000 over the three months and the region's unemployed rate has fallen to 7.5 per cent - the biggest drop in the country according to an employment minister. And over the last year the region's official unemployment figure has fallen by more than a fifth, or 57,000. It is the biggest drop in unemployment for any UK region except the South East.

Employment Minister Esther McVey said: "The unemployment rate in the West Midlands fell 1.9 percentage points on the year - the largest fall of all UK regions. As the economy grows, businesses up and down the country are feeling increasingly confident about creating jobs, meaning many thousands more people are in work every day – ensuring a better future for them, their families, and for the country as a whole."

The national unemployment rate has now fallen to a new five-year low of 6.6 per cent. Meanwhile, the ONS revealed employment had risen by a record-breaking 345,000 in the three months from February to April, with 30.5 million people in work for the first time ever.

But figures from the Office for National Statistics also revealed pay growth slowed to just 0.7 per cent, a sharp drop on last month's figure of 1.7 per cent. That means pay is failing to keep up with inflation, which currently stands at 1.8 per cent.

Rachel Reeves, Labour's Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said: "While this fall in overall unemployment is welcome, working people are over £1,600 a year worse off than when David Cameron came to office and pay has fallen behind inflation."

Meanwhile the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance across the UK fell 27,400 to 1.09 million. Across the West Midlands it was down 5,517 to 115,970.

Wolverhampton still has the highest rate of claimants in the region at 6.2 per cent of the city's working population. Numbers were down by 271 to 9,851.

In Sandwell the claimant count was down by 504 to 9,875, or five per cent of the borough's working population. That is nearly twice the national claimant rate of 2.7 per cent.

In Walsall it fell 294 to 7,369, or 4.4 per cent and for Dudley the fall was 256 to 7,461, or 3.8 per cent.

In Staffordshire there was a fall of 95 for Cannock Chase to 1,298 (2.1 per cent). South Staffordshire was down 66 at 1,107 (1.6 per cent), Stafford by 62 to 1,021 (1.2 per cent) and Lichfield by 28 to 773 (1.2 per cent).

Wyre Forest also had 121 fewer claimants at 1,416 (2.4 per cent).