Jobless total falls

Unemployment has fallen by 1.8 per cent in Stafford with just under 1,400 people claiming job seekers allowance, new figures show.The claimant count has fallen by 58 to 1,397 last month.

In South Staffordshire it was down just 12 to 1,171, also 1.8 per cent of the working population and in Cannock Chase there were 1,382 people claiming jobseeker's allowance, down 12 on the previous month, or 2.4 per cent.

In Lichfield the claimant count was up by seven to 838, or 1.4 per cent.

Across the country was a fall of 3,000 in the unemployment total to 1.69 million in the three months to January, a jobless rate of 5.5 per cent.

The number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance fell in February by 3,800 to 922,200, the fifth consecutive monthly fall.