UNEMPLOYMENT in Wyre Forest has fallen by more than 40 per cent, according to latest figures released this week.

The Department for Work and Pensions’ statistics revealed that the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) in May this year stood at 636, compared with 1416 during the same period last year - representing a drop of 44.9 per cent.

This means the rate of unemployment in Wyre Forest stands at 1.2 per cent, which compares favourably with the national figure of 1.8 per cent.

There was good news for Worcestershire overall, with figures showing a drop of 2174 JSA claimants in the county from 6559 last year – a fall of 33.2 per cent.

Wyre Forest has seen significant decreases in the number of people who are unemployed over the past year.

When the DWP released figures in February, Wyre Forest had 1,000 JSA claimants – 680 less than the previous year.

And in May, The Shuttle revealed that unemployment was falling faster in Wyre Forest than any other part of Worcestershire.

Angela Street, from Jobcentre Plus, said Wyre Forest said a growing and diverse jobs market was helping the district achieve these results.

She said: “It’s great news that there are fewer people out of work and looking for a job. In Wyre Forest there are 636 fewer claimants than a year ago.

“Wyre Forest has a buoyant labour market, with a mixture of both full and part time, permanent and temporary vacancies.”

There is further good news on the horizon for the area with major developments announced recently. These include Amtek’s plans to create 500 jobs and the Specsavers’ expansion plan that will see 200 new jobs.