Figures released yesterday by the Office for National Statistics show that the number of Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants in Wyre Forest in August was 749. This represents a rate of 1.6% of the economically active population aged 16 to 64 and a year on year decrease since 2012. Since August 2010 it represents a massive 67% decrease. The rates of unemployment in the West Midlands and nationally have also held steady, but are noticeably higher than in Wyre Forest.
Mark Garnier MP expressed optimism for the remainder of the year: “These figures show the health of our economy – we are moving from the days of large drops in unemployment figures and entering ‘normal’ times where locally we have relatively few people unemployed. We also should be entering a period of wage growth. This doesn’t mean though that we’re going to lose any energy: I have my next jobs fair on 1st October in Kidderminster Town Hall at 11am. ”