Unemployment falls by 2,500 in East Midlands

The number of unemployed people in the East Midlands has fallen by almost 2,500, according to figures released this morning.

The Office for National Statistics issued its latest monthly regional employment bulletin earlier, which showed there were 115,000 unemployed people aged 16-64 in the region in the three months to February 2015.

Our regional unemployment rate is now 5.1 per cent, compared to the national rate of 5.6 per cent.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Total number of people (aged 16-64) in employment in the region increased by 10,400 to 2,152,769 in the three months to February, meaning there were 66,549 more people in work than in the same period last year.

The number of people in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance (JSA) fell by 572 in March, meaning there were 7,246 fewer claimants across the area than there were in March 2014 – and more than 9,806 fewer claimants than five years ago.

East Midlands Chamber (Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire) has welcomed the figures.

Chief Executive, George Cowcher, said: “This was another extremely positive set of employment figures, with the number of JSA claimants across the region falling significantly over the year, the number of people in work increasing and the unemployment rate in the East Midlands now well below the national average.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Over the past five years, the unemployment rate in the East Midlands has fallen by 2.3per cent and largely this has been driven by the efforts of local businesses in creating the jobs and generating the growth needed to secure and sustain the economic recovery.

“Wage increases are also now higher than inflation and are boosting living standards - a focus on improving productivity from businesses will ensure this is sustainable.”