THERE has been another drop in the number of people out of work in Worcester and the wider county.

According to the latest Office of National Statistics (ONS) figures, there were 2,880 people in the city claiming out of work benefits in September - the last available month of data.

This is down on previous months, when 2,965 in the Worcester constituency claimed in August, 3,060 in July and 3,195 in June.

The figure is also down on a year ago when, that September, 3,805 claimed out of work benefit.

In comparison, in the pre pandemic month of September 2019, 1,655 claimed.

In the Mid-Worcestershire constituency, which includes Droitwich and Evesham residents, 2,155 people claimed in September. That was down on the 2,215 that claimed in August, 2,305 in July and 2,310 in June.

In September 2020 3,050 claimed out of work benefits and two years ago, in September 2019, 1,015 claimed.

And in West Worcestershire constituency, which includes Malvern, 1,885 people were out of work in September.

This was a drop on the 1,905 who claimed in August and 1,970 who claimed in July.

In September 2020, 2,570 constituents had claimed, while in September 2019, 915 people from the constituency claimed.

Worcester MP Robin Walker said: "The next figures, for October, I am hopeful they will be down further.

"The numbers I look at (to compare to) is 2,785 - the number it peaked at in 2009 before it started coming down.

"And 2,455, the number it was at when I became MP. Obviously I would like to see it below those numbers again.

"Hopefully the coming months will get us to that position.

"The direction of travel in the last few months has been encouraging."

Harriett Baldwin, MP for West Worcestershire, said: “Job vacancies in West Worcestershire remain impressively high and the ending of furlough means that some people are coming onto the job market, but not as many as were originally feared.

“All the feedback that I get from local employers is that there are plenty of good opportunities out there and the Budget outlined a range of funding measures to help people improve their skills to get into better paid jobs.

"Of course, I remain eager to help anyone who is struggling with the benefits system and hope that the downward trend of local unemployment continues.”

Nigel Huddleston, MP for Mid-Worcestershire, said: "These figures give us another encouraging indication that our recovery is going in the right direction.

"We’re in a much better position than we were at this point last year, and every month more and more people are going back to work.

"I know our local DWP teams have been working hard to support people back to work and promoting the government schemes dedicated to reducing unemployment.”