Shropshire job boom: Major firms planning to create hundreds of positions
Major retailers are preparing to create hundreds of jobs in Shropshire, Job Centre bosses have said.
Latest figures have revealed that unemployment in the county declined in the run-up to the EU referendum and Gareth Niblett of Job Centre in Bridgnorth said that was set to continue despite the uncertainty in the national economy.
The number of people claiming various forms of unemployment benefit in the county dropped from 1,825 in May to 1,770 in June, the data from the Office for National Statistics reveals.
In Telford & Wrekin the figure shifted slightly downwards from 1,645 to 1,640 – a marginal drop which continued the rate of decline seen in the previous month.
It marks the third consecutive month of declines in claimant numbers in Shropshire.
Powys had 750 people claiming benefit last month, down from 770 in May.
"I know there's uncertainty nationally," Mr Niblett said. "But what we are seeing on the ground in Shropshire is that the economy is buzzing and that jobs are being created. We are still working with a number of employers."
He said builders' merchant TG Group had recently completed a recruitment drive for a new site near Bridgnorth, and that waste firm Veolia was taking on 20 people to man a first-of-its-kind television recycling centre it is building in the county.
Now retailers such as Smiths Toy Store and The Entertainer are preparing to create 40 jobs in the run-up to Christmas, Screwfix in Telford has recently taken on new staff and Primark is beginning to prepare for a recruitment campaign which will see it take on 125 people to work in its new Shrewsbury store, which is scheduled to open next May.
Magna International's new car parts plant in Telford will also see about 300 people taken on.
"Looking ahead there's big recruitment going to take place in the next nine to 12 months," Mr Niblett added.
Shropshire's figures go against the grain for the UK as a whole as the national claimant count, which includes those on Jobseeker's Allowance, increased by 400 last month to 759,100, the fourth consecutive monthly rise.
However, the employment rate reached a record high of 74.4 per cent, with 31.7 million people in work in the three months to May – 176,000 more than the previous quarter. Average earnings increased by 2.3 per cent in the year to May, 0.3 per cent up on the previous month.
