Fewer claim unemployment benefits in Shropshire

The Office for National Statistics said regular pay, excluding bonuses, grew by 4.7 per cent over the three months to June.

Analysts had predicted that wages would increase by 4.5 per cent.

It comes after CPI inflation hit a new 40-year record of 9.4 per cent in June and is expected to peak at around 11 per cent later this year.

The ONS said this resulted in a 4.1 per cent drop in regular pay for employees once CPI inflation is taken into account, representing the biggest slump since records began in 2001.

Official figures also showed that the number of UK workers on payrolls rose by 73,000 between June and July to 29.7 million.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate increased to 3.8 per cent for the quarter compared with 3.7 per cent for the previous period. There were 1.29 million unemployed in the three months to June.

ONS director of economic statistics Darren Morgan said: "The number of people in work grew in the second quarter of 2022, whilst the headline rates of unemployment and of people neither working nor looking for a job were little changed.

"Meanwhile, the total number of hours worked each week appears to have stabilised very slightly below pre-pandemic levels.

"Redundancies are still at very low levels.

"However, although the number of job vacancies remains historically very high, it fell for the first time since the summer of 2020."

Vacancy numbers hit 1.27 million over the three months from May to July, slipping by 19,800 in the first signal the UK's hot labour market could be cooling.

Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi said: "Today's stats demonstrate that the jobs market is in a strong position, with unemployment lower than at almost any point in the past 40 years _ good news in what I know are difficult times for people.

"This highlights the resilience of the UK economy and the fantastic businesses who are creating new jobs across the country."

In the West Midlands the unemployment figure was 138,000 (4.6 per cent of the working population) in the three months to June.

The region's employment rate was 60 per cent – 2.83 million.

The West Midlands saw a fall in the numbers claiming unemployment benefits, including Universal Credit last month. The total of 177,925 (4.8 per cent) was down 2.010 on June. The national claimants total was 1.54m (3.7 per cent).

In Shropshire the number of claimants was down by 40 to 4,520 (2.4 per cent) with Telford and Wrekin having a drop of 55 to 4,060 (3.6 per cent).

Powys had 70 fewer claimants at 1,670 (2.2 per cent).

Ben Marr, partnership manager (Shropshire) for the Department for Work and Pensions, said: "Figures up until June saw unemployment in Shropshire and Telford regions continue to fall. Vacancies in the area remain at record levels with 460 jobs across a variety of sectors available on the Find a Job website alone.

"Jobcentres across the region are working with an increasing number of employers in Telford and Shropshire to help fill these vacancies and we are supporting with ongoing job’s fairs and recruitment days.

"To help jobseekers gain the skills or qualifications for some of these vacancies we are increasing the number of support and training events we offer. We recently held a pre-employment training event to help people get ready to apply for civil service jobs at our DWP Contact Centre in Telford and had over 50 people referred to the event. In the next two months will be running training events that include teaching assistant, customer service and construction with a CSCS card.

"On August 18 we are hosting a recruitment day at Shrewsbury JCP for Oxbow Manor – a new residential home opening in Shrewsbury shortly, to fill vacancies including care assistants, nurses, housekeeping, kitchen, reception, chefs, activity co-ordinator and some management opportunities.

"With Universal Credit, more people are recognising that they are better off in work and taking up the record vacancies we have. In Shropshire, jobseekers can get a tailored ‘in work calculation’ from their work coaches to help them understand the positive impact work will have on their finances."

Matthew Percival, the Confederation of British Industry's director of employment, said: “It’s another month where pay falls further as businesses and workers struggle with rising costs like energy prices. Employers are doing their level best to support staff through this period, but the vast majority can’t afford large enough pay rises to keep up with inflation.

“Speaking to employers it’s clear that filling roles remains a primary concern and is proving a handbrake on the UK’s economic prospects."

The British Chambers of Commerce head of people policy, Jane Gratton, said: “The labour market remains incredibly tight adding to the growing list of concerns businesses are facing. This is a ticking time bomb for firms up and down the country.

“Today’s figures show little improvement for employers over the last quarter. Despite the small increase in employment levels, the number of job vacancies in the economy remains around the highest on record. Competition for skills and labour continues to drive up wage costs.

“Skills and labour shortages have reached crisis point for many firms. The impact is being felt on their ability to meet customer demand and forcing some to turn away new business, because they simply do not have the human resource. This is restricting growth and business confidence. It’s a serious and urgent problem."