South West Labour Market Continues to Strengthen

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today released the Labour Market Statistics for the 3 months ending April 2015:

• Unemployment in the South West decreased by 5,000 to 4.2%, a drop of 0.3% on the quarter and is down 0.6% on the year.
• Total UK unemployment rate of 5.5% is the lowest since August 2008.
• The youth unemployment rate was 16.1%, a decrease of 0.1% this quarter. This is down from 18.4% this time last year but remains way above average unemployment and pre-recession levels.

Commenting on the labour market statistics, Phil Smith, Managing Director of Business West, said:

“The latest figures confirm that the labour market remains a major source of strength for the South West economy with unemployment continuing to fall. Our region is outperforming the national average, and this quarter saw 42,000 more people enter our local workforce.

“On a national level unemployment has declined for well over a year, and currently stands at 5.5%. Today’s figures also reveal that annual real wage growth is now at 2.7% – the highest it has been since 2007, showing that both jobs and pay are on an upward trajectory.

“However, there are still some areas of unease. Youth unemployment remains stubbornly high and is still almost three times as high as the national average. With a new government in place we need to see firm action taken to address the skills gap between education and business which is restricting our long term prosperity.”