Shropshire shares rise in UK jobless figures

They show unemployment increased by 9,000 to 142,000 in the region between July and September.

Nationally unemployment has increased by 21,000 even though record numbers of people are in work, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The national jobless total rose to 1.38 million in the three months to September after a big increase in the number of men out of work.

Nationwide employment continued to increase, up by 23,000 to a record high of 32.4 million.

But in the West Midlands it was down by 19,000 over the three months to September, to 2.78 million. Despite that fall, employment in the West Midlands is still up by 107,000 on the figure for the same three months a year ago.

The number of people claiming unemployment related benefits such as Jobseeker's Allowance and Universal Credit rose by 1,645 in the West Midlands last month to 105,645.

Shropshire saw the claimant count rise by 175 to 2,830, or 1.5 per cent of the working population.

Telford and Wrekin's claimant count fell by 45 to 1,830, or 1.7 per cent of the working population.

The figure in Powys fell by 45 to 685, or 0.9 per cent of the population.

Part of the reason for the rise in claimant counts over recent months has been the transfer of many people across to the new Universal Credit benefit system.

Nationally other figures showed a record fall in the number of non-EU nationals working in the UK, down by 132,000 to 2.25 million in the latest quarter compared with a year ago.

The fall, the biggest since records began in 1997, was driven by fewer Eastern Europeans working in the UK.

Population

The total has now fallen for the last three quarters, down from the highest level of 2.4 million a year ago.

The UK's jobless rate is now 4.1 per cent, up by 0.1 per cent on the previous quarter but 0.2 per cent lower than a year ago. In the West Midlands it is 5.1 per cent.

The increase in both unemployment and employment is explained by the UK's rising population.

The ONS also reported that average earnings increased by three per cent in the year to September, up from 2.8 per cent the previous month.

ONS senior statistician Matt Hughes said: "The labour market is little changed on the previous three months, though still stronger than it was at this time last year.

"With faster wage growth and more subdued inflation, real earnings have picked up noticeably in the last few months.

"However, real wage growth is below the level seen in 2015, and real wages have not yet returned to their 2008 levels.

"The recent uptick in British nationals in work and the decline in workers from the so-called A8 Eastern European countries both seem to be accelerating."

Job vacancies were up by 14,000 on the quarter to a record high of 845,000, the ONS reported.

The number of people classed as economically inactive increased by 1,000 to 8.7 million, around 147,000 lower than a year ago.

The figure includes those on long-term sick leave, students and people who have given up looking for a job.