Fall in West Midlands unemployment

While nationally it rose for the first time in more than two years, the region's total of 165,00 for the three months to May was down from 172,00 for December to February.

The number of jobless increased in the UK by 15,000 to 1.85 million in the three months the Office for National Statistics said.

The numbers claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in the West Midlands last month also fell by 3,829 to 76,691 (2.2 per cent of the working population).

Wolverhampton and Birmingham had the highest rate of four per cent, but numbers claiming in Wolverhampton fell by 276 from May to 6,401.

It was the same picture across the region with Dudley down 260 to 4,811 (2.5 per cent); Sandwell falling by 230 to 6,829 (3.5 per cent) and Walsall having 179 fewer claimants at 4,601 (2.7 per cent).

Staffordshire claimant numbers fell by 296 to 4,784 (0.9 per cent). Stafford, which had seen numbers up over the last two months, had a fall of 41 to 613 (0.7 per cent) and Cannock Chase was down by 37 to 756 (1.2 per cent).

Lichfield also fell by 24 to 306 (0.5 per cent) and South Staffordshire was down by 45 at 743(1.1 per dent).

Wyre Forest, which includes Kidderminster, had 74 fewer claimants at 743 (1.1 per cent).

Numbers claiming unemployment-related benefit nationally in June rose by 7,000 to 804,200, the first monthly increase since October 2012.

The national figures also showed that pay rises continued to accelerate, with average weekly earnings up by 3.2 per cent year-on-year in the three months to May, up from 2.7 per cent in the three months to April.

It is the strongest rate since April 2010 and with inflation hovering at around zero, it means that real terms pay is improving at a rate not seen for nearly eight years.

Regular pay excluding bonuses rose by 2.8 per cent, the highest rate since February 2009.