Unemployment has fallen by a massive 34,000 in the West Midlands – meaning joblessness is now lower here than in London and the North West.
The huge fall in people out of work takes the unemployment rate to 6.3 per cent – compared to 9.3 per cent a year before – to a total of 173,000.
The means joblessness in the region is the lowest it has been since the summer of 2008, although the figures do not show how many roles have been created through short-term or zero hours contracts.
It also means the region has crept under the unemployment rates in London and the North West, which are both 6.5 per cent, according to the Office for National Statistics.
However, West Midland business leaders show while the fall is the largest in the UK underlines the region’s economic recovery but warn that more chilling figures may be on the way next month.
Greg Lowson, president of Birmingham Chamber and head of lawyers Pinsent Masons in Birmingham, said the West Midlands has the biggest drop in unemployment figures from 7.5 per cent to 6.3 per cent in the UK for September to November 2014.
He said: “We must bear in mind that these are last year’s figures. This is an issue with Government statistics because we are always looking back and never get up to date figures.
“The latest unemployment figures do not take into account the major redundancies that happened in our region in December and we should brace ourselves for next month’s figures.
“However we can look forward to a brighter future with an upturn in the manufacturing and transport sectors. Jaguar Land Rover plans to increase staff at its Solihull plant and Phase one of the HS2 project starts this year and is estimated to create 1,500 jobs.”
The level of employment in the region has risen alongside falling joblessness in recent months and years. Total employment stood at 2.59 million in the quarter to November 2014, up from 2.52 million a year before.
The West Midlands’ employment rate is also at its highest since summer 2008.
