Business leaders in Birmingham and Solihull welcome new
government initiatives to reduce unemployment as the latest figures
show the West Midlands now has the largest jobless rates in the
country.
This comes as no surprise as these latest figures take into
account the vast number of students who have graduated from
university in the summer.
On top of this, Birmingham and Solihull Chamber of Commerce and
Industry's (BCI) latest research reveals that Birmingham businesses
are still feeling the brunt of the recession which has led to a
freeze or reduction in recruitment intentions.
Kiran Virk, Policy Advisor at the BCI, said: "The majority of
investment plans are being replaced with survival strategies.
However, it is a positive sign that youth unemployment has
actually fallen in the three months to August, declining to 946,000
from 947,000 in the three months to July.
"Here in the West Midlands we have a huge wealth of talent in
our young people. BCI is encouraging business to work with key
partners to ensure that opportunities are created to support young
people's development and employability, particularly through
schemes such as Future Jobs Fund and the West Midlands Graduate
Internship Programme.
"As part of Business Voice West Midlands, the Chamber will be
launching a youth unemployment campaign to encourage businesses to
offer work trials or internships to young people.
"We also welcome Birmingham City Council's announcement of a
£22m programme which will aim to help unemployed people get
back into work. The programme is being funded by Birmingham City
Council via the Working Neighbourhoods Fund."
Unemployment in the West Midlands has now reached 281,000 equal
to 10.4 per cent of the working age population - an increase of
5,000 people.