Small rise in unemployment in West Midlands as national figure approaches five-year high
Rates of unemployment in the West Midlands have increased fractionally while the national figure has reached a near five-year high, according to the latest data.
Monthly job stats for the region published today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) also show a slight decrease in the rate of employment and a rise in inactivity.
For the three months from October to December 2025, 73 per cent of 16 to 64 year olds in the West Midlands were in work, a drop of 0.7 per cent on the three months from July to September.
The percentage of people aged 16 or over who were unemployed was 6.1 per cent, an increase of 0.1 per cent over the same period.
The inactivity rate among 16 to 64 year olds was 21.8 per cent, an increase of 0.5 per cent over the same quarterly period.
Nationally, unemployment has risen in the UK to a near five-year high with the jobless rate among young people at its worst level for more than a decade, the data shows. The ONS said the rate of unemployment lifted to 5.2 per cent in the three months from October to December, up from 5.1 per cent in the three months to November.
This was the highest since the three months to January 2021 and, outside of the pandemic era, it marks the highest since the autumn of 2015.Experts said young workers were among the hardest hit, with almost one in six left without a job.
The ONS said the unemployment rate for 16 to 24-year-olds surged to 16.1 per cent in the latest quarter - the highest level since early 2015. The Resolution Foundation think tank said the UK's youth unemployment was now higher than the EU average for the first time since records began in 2000, with the rate across Europe at 14.9 per cent in the final three months of last year.
The weakened jobs market has seen sectors such as retail and hospitality come under particular strain after the Government hiked National Insurance contributions and pushed through above-inflation increases in the minimum wage, with some companies cutting jobs and slowing hiring in response.
Most economists had expected the rate of UK unemployment to remain at 5.1 per cent in the latest quarter.
The ONS added that regular wage growth fell back once again to its lowest level for almost four years, to 4.2 per cent in the three months to December, against a downwardly revised 4.4 per cent in the three months to November, though it was 0.8 per cent higher after taking Consumer Prices Index inflation into account.
But there was another welcome increase in vacancies, up by 2,000 quarter-on-quarter to 726,000 in the three months to January, which is the second rise in a row.
Louise Murphy, senior economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: "We must urgently turn our attention to the UK's unemployment problems.
"At the end of last year, almost one-in-six young people who wanted to work couldn't find a job. Unemployment risks climbing even further in 2026.
"Getting youth unemployment down in this country - along with the share of young people who aren't in education or training either - must be a top priority for 2026."
The Conservatives said the latest rise in the jobless rate was "the predictable result of bad decisions and economic incompetence" by the Labour Government.
Work and Pensions Secretary and Wolverhampton South East MP Pat McFadden said: "Today's figures show there are 381,000 more people in work since the start of 2025 but we know there is more to do to get people into jobs.
"Our £1.5 billion drive to tackle youth unemployment is a key priority and this month we announced that we'll make it easier for young people to find and secure an apprenticeship, which comes on top of our investment to create 50,000 new apprenticeships."
