Shropshire jobless fall matches rest of UK
A fall in Britain's unemployment figure is being matched in Shropshire, and leaves the county well-placed for growth in the new year, local business leaders say.
Latest figures show unemployment has fallen to its lowest level for more than a year, despite a rise in the number of people claiming jobseekers' allowance. Nationally, the jobless total dropped by 49,000 to 2.51 million in the quarter to September, the lowest figure since last summer.
But the number of people on the dole jumped by 10,100 last month to 1.58 million, the highest since July, and the biggest monthly rise since last September.
Across the West Midlands, unemployment remained steady at 235,000, or 8.6 per cent of the work-ready population.
In Shropshire, the number of jobseeker's allowance claimants fell for the second consecutive month from 4,845 to 4,766 – the lowest figure since June.
Telford & Wrekin saw 4,491 people claim Jobseeker's Allowance – a slight rise on September, when the figure had fallen for the first time since May.
Rachael Stone, director of Shrewsbury-based Red Recruitment, said: "With the upcoming festive period traditionally one of the busiest times of year for many firms, especially those supplying the retail and hospitality sectors, we'd anticipate the encouraging news will continue in the months ahead."
Richard Sheehan, from Shropshire Chamber of Commerce, added: "The latest job market figures are again encouraging and support our assessment that the UK economy will grow over the next year. Unemployment is down and the level of inactivity has continued to fall, signalling people are returning to the workforce."
