Claimant unemployment fell by 42 in just one month in Acocks Green in November. It fell from 1,000 to 958, and together with Stechford and Yardley North and Weoley left the unloved club of Birmingham wards with unemployment over 1,000. For Acocks Green this represents a fall of 211 in the past year, a fall which has accelerated in recent months. The number of youth (18-24) claimants in Acocks Green fell by 16 to 243 and long term unemployment in the ward fell by 25 to 604.

Nationally, seasonally adjusted claimant unemployment fell by 36,700 to 1,268,600 or 4.0% In Birmingham it fell by 656 to 42,426 or 9.3%. While falling, it remains higher than any other major city in the UK, with Birmingham Ladywood and Birmingham Hodge Hill being the two constituencies with the highest unemployment in the UK.

Total national unemployment fell by 99,000 to 2.39 million in the three months to October. This represents a fall from 7.6% to 7.4%, which is the lowest its been since 2009. Meanwhile the number of jobs in the economy increased (by 250,000) to over 30 million for the first time in our country’s history.