Shropshire shares drop in jobless figures

The latest figure shows a fall of 2,000 to 139,000, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Meanwhile, the number of people in work in the UK has remained at a near-record high despite a slight fall in employment.

There were 32.39 million people in a job in the UK in the three months to August, a fall of 5,000 on the previous quarter.

It was the first fall since last autumn, although employment is still 289,000 higher than a year ago, the Office for National Statistics said.

Unemployment fell by 47,000 to 1.36 million, giving a jobless rate of four per cent.

The numbers claiming unemployment-related benefits in the West Midlands were up 405 last month to 104,000, or 2.9 per cent of the working population.

Part of the increases is down to the roll-out of the new Universal Credit system in the region.

Shropshire saw the claimant count rise by 205 to 2,655, or 1.4 per cent of the working population.

Telford and Wrekin's claimant count fell by 40 to 1,875, or 1.7 per cent of the working population.

The figure in Powys rose by 15 to 730, or one per cent of the population.

Nationally average earnings increased by 2.7 per cent in the year to August, from 2.6 per cent the previous month.

Including bonuses, earnings grew by 3.1 per cent compared with 2.9 per cent in the previous period.

The number of people classed as economically inactive increased by 103,000 to 8.7 million after a similar rise in last month's figures. The total included 52,000 students.

Other figures showed that job vacancies increased by 3,000 to a near-record 832,000.

Minister of State for Employment Alok Sharma said: "I am particularly encouraged that wages continue to be on the up, outpacing inflation for the seventh month in a row and regular pay is up 3.1 per cent on the year.

"And with unemployment at its lowest since the 1970s, since 2010 there are more people with the security of a job, more people with a regular salary, and more people able to support their families – and that is thanks to action this Government has taken to build an economy that works for everyone."