Unemployment rises in Shropshire and Telford
Unemployment in Shropshire increased last month, official figures have revealed.
The number of people claiming different types of unemployment benefit in Shropshire Council's area rose from 1,890 to 1,925 in January, a month when many people who had temporary work over Christmas are released from their posts.
In Telford & Wrekin, the figure rose from 1,685 to 1,760.
The figures come on the back of two successive months of improving unemployment figures in the county, and continues a trend of regular rises and falls in the local labour market over the last year.
In Powys, 805 people signed on – which was similar to the figure of 800 recorded last month.
Nationally, more than 31.8 million adults are in a job – 300,000 more than a year ago – after a quarterly rise of 37,000, while unemployment fell by 7,000 to just under 1.6 million.
But the West Midlands experienced a spike in unemployment over the same quarter, rising by 17,000 to 168,000, giving the region an overall jobless rate of 5.9 per cent.
The Office for National Statistics said the number of people on the claimant count fell by 42,400 in January to 745,000, the biggest monthly fall since the autumn of 2013.
It said the claimant count figures were likely to be volatile because of the complexities of rolling out Universal Credit, which was launched in 2013 to replace a number of benefits, including Jobseeker's Allowance.
