Unemployment falls in the West Midlands ahead of final lockdown easing

The region's unemployment figure was down to 168,000 for the three months to May – 5.7 per cent of the region's working population.

Britain saw a record 356,000 jump in the number of workers on payrolls last month and vacancies soared as the economy recovered, official figures show.

In the West Midlands the number in employment in the quarter rose to 2.77 million – 59.1 per cent.

The Office for National Statistics said payroll figures rose for the seventh month in a row between May and June, while firms hired at a blistering pace after indoor hospitality reopened ahead of the final lifting of restrictions on July 19.

The increase in payrolled workers was the biggest since those records began in 2014.

There were 862,000 job vacancies between April and June– 77,500 above the first quarter of 2020 and passing pre-pandemic levels for the first time, according to the ONS.

The figures also show that the jobless rate dropped once more, to 4.8 per cent between March and May, against five per cent from December to February.

But the ONS also said that, despite seven months of increases, the number of payrolled workers has still fallen by 206,000 since the pandemic hit.

Numbers claiming unemployment benefits, including Universal Credit, fell across the region in June.

Across the West Midlands there were 242,705 claiming – 6.6 per cent of the working population. It was down 12,650 from May.

Sandwell saw the biggest fall of 865 in the Black Country to 18,205 (8.9 per cent), followed by Dudley down 725 to 12,765 (6.6 per cent). Walsall had a drop of 650 to 13,860 (eight per cent) and Wolverhampton had 580 fewer claimants at 16,175 (9.9 per cent).

Staffordshire's claimant total was down 1,700 to 21,700 (4.1 per cent). Lichfield saw a drop of 260 to 2,325 (3.8 per cent), Cannock Chase was down 250 to 2,895 (4.6 per cent), Stafford reduced by 240 to 2,925 (3.5 per cent) and South Staffordshire by 185 to 2,590 (3.9 per cent).

Wyre Forest, including Kidderminster, had 240 fewer people claiming at 2,870 (4.9 per cent).

Cathy Taylor,business development manager for Jobcentre Plus in the Black Country, said that more jobs were starting to come on line in the region.

Jobcentre Plus is working with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government over plans for a campaign to recruit 300 people for its new offices at the i9 building in Wolverhampton city centre.

"We are working to support people to be interview ready to apply for those jobs. Many people have been out of work for 15 months or more due to the pandemic," she said.

Jobs in warehousing, fork lift truck driving, security and in the NHS are also coming on stream in the Black Country and a Sector Based Work Academy programme is operating locally to prepare people.

Minister for Employment Mims Davies said: “In the past year we have supported over 14.5 million people across the country through our Plan for Jobs including through the Kickstart scheme. We know that it’s not been possible to save every job, but we have protected as many as we can, whilst helping new jobseekers through our DWP programmes to secure work.

“There is still work to do as today’s figures show, but importantly we’re on the right track and pushing for recovery – with a sustained rise in the number of people on payrolls, including 135,000 more young people in work this month, and another rise in vacancies on offer as we continue on our road map."

Suren Thiru, head of economics at British Chambers of Commerce, said: “The significant rise in payroll employment suggests that UK jobs market continued to improve as the economy gradually reopened.

“Surging demand for labour amid the economy unlocking, the rapid vaccine rollout and continued government support helped drive higher payroll employment in June, despite the delay to the end of the road map.

“The rise in vacancies confirms the ongoing struggle to hire staff. The recruitment difficulties faced by firms go well beyond temporary bottlenecks and with many facing an increasing skills gap, staff shortages may drag on any recovery."