Claimant count figures for West Midlands as UK unemployment holds steady

Across the West Midlands numbers claiming unemployment benefits, including Universal Credit, rose by 975 to 178,915 in November – 4.9 per cent of the working population.

Shropshire saw a slight rise in claimants at 4,270 while Telford & Wrekin numbers dropped slightly to 4,020 from 4,045 in the previous month.

Shropshire saw a reduction of 225 people on the Claimant Count when compared to the previous year and Telford saw an increase of 10 people on the Claimant Count for the same period. There was a further reduction in the number of claimants in the 50 plus age groups across the region.

For Powys, the claimant total was flat at 1,690 (2.2 per cent on the working population).

Louise Johnson, DWP Partnership Manager Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, said: “It’s been a busy, positive year at our jobcentres with everyone working hard to help jobseekers and employers.

"We’ve built new partnerships with businesses, some recruiting in our office, and a great example of this is The Range in Oswestry.

"We’ve also increased the number of online and in person jobs fairs, including the very popular specialist events for the 50 Plus and young people."

Wolverhampton claimant figures dropped to 12,075 (7.3 per cent) from 12,180 while figures in Dudley rose to 9,115, from 9,050, although they were down on the year.

In Sandwell, claimant count numbers were up slightly at 13,555 from 13,505 and up 260 over the year.

Walsall claimant figures fell by ten to 9,510 (5.5 per cent of the working population) but were up on the year.

The number of claimants in Birmingham stood at 63,535. Staffordshire's total claimants stood at 15,030, a rise of 75 on the previous month.

Claimants in South Staffordshire were 1,710, a rise of 10, while Lichfield figures dropped from 1,460 to 1,445

Cannock Chase had 25 more claimants at 2,100 (3.3 per cent) and Stafford was up 50 at 2,075 (2.5 per cent). Tamworth's figures stand at 1,670 (3.4 per cent of the working population).

Wyre Forest, including Kidderminster, had a rise of 30 to 1,815 (3.1 per cent).

Cathy Taylor, Employer and Partnerships Manager for Department for Work and Pensions in the Black Country said: “We’ve built new partnerships with businesses, some recruiting in our office, and a great example of this is Signature Clinical Waste Ltd who have recruited at Dudley office for drivers and waste operatives.

“Looking to the new year we have vacancies in virtually every sector, whether that’s hospitality or health care or manufacturing.

"We’ll also be looking to expand our services to open up the possibility of guiding parents and people with a health condition into fulfilling employment. Importantly jobseeking parents on Universal Credit, can get extra financial help through increased childcare payments."

The claimant count figures come as pay growth has eased back at the fastest pace for two years, while vacancies dropped further in the longest run of declines on record, according to official figures.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said private sector regular earnings, excluding bonuses, rose by 7.3 per cent in the three months to October, down from 7.8 per cent in the previous three months. This was the steepest fall in earnings growth since the three months November 2021.

But despite easing back, pay growth outstripped inflation at the fastest pace for more than two years, up 1.2 cent after taking Consumer Prices Index inflation (CPI) into account.

In further signs of a weakening UK jobs market, the ONS said the number of vacancies fell for the 17th month in a row, down by 45,000 in the three months to November to 949,000 – the longest period of decline on record.

The rate of unemployment remained unchanged at 4.2 cent in the three months to October, but more real-time figures estimated the number of workers on UK payrolls fell by 13,000 in November to 30.2 million.

ONS director of economic statistics Darren Morgan said: “Job vacancies fell again. This is now the longest period of decline on record, longer than in the immediate aftermath of the 2008 downturn. Nevertheless, the number of vacancies still remains well above its pre-pandemic level.

“While annual growth in earnings remains high in cash terms, there are some signs that wage pressure might be easing overall.

“However, as inflation has been falling more quickly, pay continues to grow in real terms.”

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said it was “positive to see inflation continue to fall and real wages growing”.

But the data suggests the jobs market is stalling in the face of a more uncertain economic backdrop, with firms not hiking pay as fast, and fewer vacancies there to be filled.

The slowdown in wage growth is seen reinforcing the case for the Bank of England to hold off from raising interest rates further.

Policymakers are widely expected to keep rates unchanged at 5.25 per cent when they next decide on Thursday, with many forecasting the Bank may look to start cutting rates in 2024.

The Bank is watching wage growth intently, with the recent record highs having been a cause for concern in its battle to bring sky-high inflation back down to the 2 per cent target.

Jake Finney, an economist at PwC UK, said: “Signs of labour market cooling will provide some reassurance to the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).

“With no major surprises in the economic data over the past four weeks, rates are likely to remain unchanged.”

Samuel Tombs at Pantheon Macroeconomics said that the unemployment rate is set to “drift higher over the coming months”.

Current jobs data is being collated using extra data sources to estimate the figure due to low responses to the labour force survey.

Mr Tombs said when revised survey data is available from next spring, he expects the rate of unemployment to rise to around 4.8 per cent, “which would further strengthen the case for the MPC to begin to cut Bank Rate at or shortly after its meeting in early May”.

The ONS data also showed there were 131,000 working days lost due to industrial action in October, with 49,000 workers were involved in strikes, though this was the lowest number for four months.

According to the latest figures, the rate of UK employment remained unchanged at 75.7 per cent in the three months to October.