Telford Job Box

The reduction in youth unemployment in Telford and Wrekin is three times greater than that seen in the West Midlands, latest figures show.

Figures to the end of December reveal that youth unemployment in the borough fell by 2,100 in the 12 months to December 2014, equivalent to a 56.8 per cent fall.

This fall in the number unemployed 16-24 year-olds covers most of the period since the start of the Council’s £1.3 million Job Box initiative in early 2014 and is based on the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) released today.

In contrast, over the same period youth unemployment in the West Midlands fell by 18.6%, while in England fell by 16.7%.

Just before the Job Box initiative began, ONS figures show the borough had 3,700 unemployed 16-24 year olds in the borough, equivalent to over one in four young people. Now there are around one in eight young people unemployed in the borough.

The rate, 12.9% is now lower than both the regional (18.3%) and national (17.1%) rates and is at its lowest since December 2008.

Telford and Wrekin has also seen above average falls in the overall unemployment rate (16-64 year olds) over the same period.

Between January and December 2014, unemployment fell by 1,900 equivalent to 27.5%. This is a greater reduction than seen for the regional and England figures which are 21.4% and 16.6% respectively.

This the lowest rate the borough has seen since the period ending March 2009.

The Job Box brings together a range of education, training and employment support and its services have helped many local people into employment and many more are now being supported.

This March, the Council hosted its second jobs fair which brought current job opportunities to local job seekers and also introduced its first skills fair which introduced a wide variety of careers to local young people. The two days events saw over 4,000 people attend.

Kate Callis, assistant director business, development & employment, said: "This is further proof of the impact of our Job Box services for people in the borough and that they are helping more and more of them into employment or training.

"A measure of the success of this is the very stark difference in Telford and Wrekin with the rest of the West Midlands – youth unemployment has fallen three times faster, while overall unemployment is also coming down quicker than the regional average.

"These are also more signs of Telford and Wrekin’s growing economy and the fruits of the Council’s drive to attract and win business for the borough. People see Telford as a good place for business."

The borough has also recorded the highest increase in income for economic activity, called gross value added (GVA), across the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership region and over the last three years this has also outstripped national and regional figures.