West Midlands bucks national unemployment trend
Unemployment is continuing to fall and a record number of people are now in work.
Official figures showed that unemployment dipped to a seven-year low of 1.83 million in the three months to March, although the latest quarterly cut of 35,000 was the smallest for almost two years.
In the West Midlands however there was a 10,000 rise in the number out of work for January to March to 178,000.
The number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance fell by 12,600 in April to 763,000, the 30th consecutive monthly reduction.
In the West Midlands the total claiming was down 2,475 at 84,851 (2.4 per cent of the working population).
Wolverhampton still has the joint highest rate in the region at 4.4 per cent, but the total was down 234 to 7,013.
There were also falls in Dudley, down 173 to 5,530 (2.9 per cent), Sandwell, 153 to 7,235 (3.7 per cent) and Walsall, 123 to 5,060 (3.0 per cent).
In Staffordshire Stafford and Cannock Chase bucked the trend of a fall in claimants.
Numbers in Stafford were up 19 to 651 (0.8 per cent) and Cannock Chase by 11 to 855 (1.4 per cent).
Lichfield was down 34 to 386 (0.6 per cent) and South Staffordshire down 22 to 831 (1.2 per cent).
Wyre Forest, including Kidderminster, also fell by 61 to 851 (1.4 per cent)
Nationally employment continued to rise, up by 202,000 in the three months to March to more than 31 million, the highest since records began in 1971.
The UK now has an employment rate of 73.5 per cent, also a record, although for men the figure is even higher at 78.4 per cent.
The UK's unemployment rate of 5.5 per cent is the second-lowest in the European Union after Germany, and compares with the highest rates of 25 per cent in Greece and 23 per cent in Spain.
