More cash pressure relief needed as unemployment rises - Chamber

A rise in unemployment across the West Midlands underlines the need for the Government to ease cash pressures on firms, business leaders have said.

According to the Office for National Statistics, unemployment in the region increased by 0.6 per cent from the previous quarter.

The employment rate also fell by 1.1 per cent to 73.9 per cent, while the inactivity rate increased by 0.6 per cent.

However, the West Midlands did buck a national trend by recording the highest increase in workforce jobs - up by 26,000 - between September and December 2020.

Paul Faulkner (pictured), chief executive of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, said: “Whilst it was a relief to see that the Chancellor heeded the calls that we made in our Back Our Businesses report to extend the furlough scheme in the short term, today 's results further reinforce the detrimental impact that Covid-19 continues to have on the national labour market.

“It was a similar picture closer to home as we saw a rise in unemployment and a decline in employment levels across the West Midlands.

“However, it was pleasing to see the region buck the national trend and post the largest increase in workforce jobs across the country - a positive development which was also reflected in the data from our latest Quarterly Business Report.

“The recent Budget also included a number of welcome measures which were aimed at offsetting any further redundancies and retaining staff - many of which we will discuss at our upcoming Growth Through People Conference next week.

“Nevertheless it 's clear that the Government need to do more to ease the cash pressures that firms across the country right now if we are to avert an even greater jobs crisis - for example, removing the requirement to pay NI and pension contributions on furloughed staff for closed businesses would be a step in the right direction. ”

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