Business leaders across the West Midlands have welcomed the fall in unemployment figures — but say there are still vacancies that can’t be filled because of lack of skills.

Commenting on the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics yesterday, Christine Braddock, president of Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, said that while unemployment in the region was down 4,000 to 255,000, 9.5% of the workforce was still jobless — the second worst figure in the country behind the North East.

She said: “The latest figures show that total vacancies have increased by 580, but many chamber members just cannot find personnel with the skills required.

“While the latest quarterly economic survey by the chamber pictures a downward trajectory for manufacturing, chamber member TRW Conekt in Solihull quotes a lack of engineers to fill its rising vacancies.”

Mike Ashton, spokesman for the West Midlands Chambers of Commerce, which includes the Black Country, said: “In the service sector the majority of employers have seen employment increase in Q4 (the fourth quarter) and plan to increase employment opportunities this year. Businesses are also bracing themselves for a large raft of employment legislation over the course of this Parliament.”

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