The number of people in work has reached a record high and fewer are claiming unemployment-related benefits than at any time in almost 20 years, new figures showed today.
The employment level nationally rose by 90,000 in the three months to December to 28.52million - the highest figure since records began in 1971.
In Worcestershire, the figures remained unchanged with 6,000 people are still unemployed - accounting for two per cent of the population. A total of 5,478 people are making claims, around 1.6 per cent of the population.
In Herefordshire, again the numbers did not change.
There were only 4,000 people are out of work, although this accounted for 4.3 per cent of the population.
Other figures showed that average earnings increased by 4.3 per cent in the year to December, up by 0.1 per month from the previous month.
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