Unemployment and claimants fall again in the West Midlands

There were 134,000 people out of work – down 4,000 on the previous three months and at a rate of 4.5 per cent.

This compares to the national rate of 3.8 per cent which edged up slightly from 3.7 per cent a month before.

In the West Midlands there were 2,86 million in employment, a rate of 60.8 per cent.

The numbers claiming unemployment benefit in the West Midlands, including Universal Credit, fell again in May. The total of 183,675 was down 4,619 from April at five per cent of the working population.

In the Black Country, the claimant count figures were down. Sandwell saw the biggest drop of 338 to 13,885 (6.8 per cent), with Walsall down 329 at 10,075 (5.8 per cent). Wolverhampton had 288 fewer claimants at 12,385 with Dudley having a drop of 201 to 9,845 (5.1 per cent).

Staffordshire's claimant total was down by 711 to 14,805 (2.8 per cent) with South Staffordshire down 163 at 1,775 (2.7 per cent), Stafford having 102 fewer claimants at 2,015, Cannock Chase down 63 at 2,010 (3.2 per cent) and Lichfield dropping by 50 to 1,560 (2.5 per cent).

Wyre Forest, which includes Kidderminster, was down 127 to 1,915 (3.3 per cent).

Official figures showed Britons have seen rises in their pay packets fall behind soaring inflation at a record pace as the cost-of-living crisis tightens its grip on UK household.

The Office for National Statistics revealed that regular wages excluding bonuses plunged by 4.5 per cent in April when taking Consumer Prices Index inflation into account – the biggest fall since records began in January 2001.

It comes as inflation has jumped to a 40-year high of nine per cent due to soaring energy and fuel bills amid the impact of the Ukraine war, and as economies emerge from the pandemic.

The ONS data showed that, in the three months to April, regular pay excluding bonuses fell three per cent after the impact of inflation – the biggest fall since November 2011 – despite a 4.2 per cent rise in average earnings.

The figures showed the number of UK workers on payrolls rose by another 90,000 or 0.3 per cent between April and May to 29.6 million.

Job vacancies also rose to a new record of 1.3 million despite a further slowdown in the rate of growth.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak insisted the statistics show Britain's jobs market "remains robust with redundancies at an all time low".

But Jonathan Ashworth, Labour's shadow work and pensions secretary, said: "Work should be the best defence from the rising cost of living yet millions in work are in poverty, real wages are plummeting, the numbers in overall employment are below pre-pandemic levels, and the numbers on out-of-work benefits not looking for work is higher than pre-pandemic."

He also accused ministers of showing "utter complacency about the huge levels of economic inactivity".

The ONS said that those classed as economically inactive fell by 39,000 in the quarter, but remained high at 8.8 million, due mostly to older workers choosing to retire early throughout the pandemic, which has led to a shrinking labour market.

The jobs figures showed there were 47,000 fewer jobless Britons at 1.3 million while those in employment rose 177,000 to 32.7 million.

Sam Beckett, head of economic statistics at the ONS, said the figures "continue to show a mixed picture for the labour market".

She said: "While the number of people in employment is up again in the three months to April, the figure remains below pre-pandemic levels.

"Moreover, although the number of people neither in work nor looking for a job has fallen slightly in the latest period, that remains well up on where it was before Covid-19 struck.

"At the same time, unemployment is close to a 50-year low point and there was a record low number of redundancies.

"Job vacancies are still slowly rising, too. At a new record level of 1.3 million, this is over half a million more than before the onset of the pandemic."

She added: "The high level of bonuses continues to cushion the effects of rising prices on total earnings for some workers, but if you exclude bonuses, pay in real terms is falling at its fastest rate in over a decade."

Employment minister Mims Davies said: "The unemployment rate remains close to a 50-year low, and still below pre-pandemic levels, with almost two million more women in work than 2010. That's fantastic news, but there's more to do.

"Work is the best way for people to provide for their families, those going into full time employment could be at least £6,000 better off than out of work on benefits.

"That's why we've launched the Way To Work campaign to get half a million more people into jobs."

Matthew Percival, CBI director for people and skills, said: “With pay continuing to fall behind inflation, it’s no wonder that households are forecast to further reduce their spending this year. Urgency is needed to build confidence and ease the risks of a full-blown recession.

“Not being able to hire the people they need is a major drag on business confidence, so the Government should immediately allow firms to use their Apprenticeship Levy to tackle shortages and update the Shortage Occupation List.”

British Chambers of Commerce head of people policy, Jane Gratton, said:  “An increasingly tight labour market means it’s much harder for employers to fill job vacancies – impacting on their ability to operate normally and retain skills in the business.

“The further rise in the employment rate, together with drop in the unemployment rate are good news but they also reflect how little room for manoeuvre there is for unfilled vacancies on the ground.

“With a new record set for the number of vacancies, and no easy way to fill them for many companies, labour shortages are likely to continue to damage the UK’s growth prospects."

Neil Carberry, chief executive of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, said: “These latest figures show what a great time it is to be looking for work. We another record number of vacancies, and pay is growing strongly as companies seek to attract people to work for them. Temporary work continues to play a big part in the labour market, helping companies fill roles and people to find work quickly.

“But employment is still lower than pre-pandemic, and while economic inactivity is down this quarter, it is still much higher than two years ago. There is not yet any sign of the economic slowdown affecting the jobs market, but if we don’t address the fact that there are not enough people looking for work, this could put another dampener on the UK’s economic growth."