UNEMPLOYMENT ACROSS Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin has risen by more than 5.5 per cent in the past year, new figures revealed today.

The number of people out of work across the county stood at 9,089 last month, compared with 8,612 at the same time last year. But the picture is still slightly more optimistic than last month, when the county jobless total was 35 higher.

Nationally, today’s figures from the Office For National Statistics showed overall unemployment down by 26,000 to 2.45 million, including a welcome drop in the number of under-25s unable to find employment.

But the report still made grim reading for the Government as the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance recorded its biggest monthly rise for more than two years.

A record number of people are also now working part-time, because they cannot find a full-time job. A total of 1.52 million people were claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance last month, a rise of 24,500 over May and the biggest monthly increase since May, 2009.

In Shropshire, there are now 4,708 people out of work in the Shropshire Council area, up nine on last month, while the Telford and Wrekin total is down 44 on May, at 4,381.

Across the UK, women are affected most, with a 16,000 increase in redundancies, today’s report showed.

Employment Minister Chris Grayling said: “There continues to be some encouraging signs in the labour market figures, particularly with the continued rise in private sector employment. It’s really important that we continue to support the economy.

“However, we do not underestimate the scale of the challenge that we face to help people into employment. We always said that the road to recovery would be choppy.

“For people who lose their jobs our new Work Programme is now up and running and will offer jobseekers flexible support tailored to their needs to help them into employment.”

Meanwhile, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development today claimed that unemployment would peak at 2.7 million next year, which is lower than previously predicted.

By Carl Jones