The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce has welcomed the latest fall in unemployment.
And Louise Bennett, chief executive of the Chamber, said there had been several positive sets of figures and surveys ahead of the New Year as unemployment dropped from 8,183 to 7,867 in Coventry and from 6,389 to 6,099 in Warwickshire.
Bennett said: “This is further positive news for the region and for the economy as a whole and it comes on the back of improving GDP figures and lower inflation.
“The early signs from our Quarterly Economic Survey (QES) are that companies are confident going into the New Year – certainly more so than 12 months ago.
“Even in the depths of the recession, unemployment didn’t fall as dramatically as many predicted but there were still considerable job losses in this area, which, of course, hit individuals very hard.
“It is good to see unemployment falling to its lowest levels in this region since 2008 but it is important, also, to recognise that the job is not done.
“The economy still needs to be rebalanced further and we need to get more businesses exporting and that is why we recently launched our International Trade Hub at Chamber House.
“Our latest QES will show that those companies exporting are the ones with even stronger forecasts for growth in the New Year.
“So for unemployment to keep falling, it is important that there is an even greater focus on helping businesses of all sizes and sectors to grow because that will mean even more jobs being created.
“Then, it is a case of making sure we have the right skills available to fulfil those positions.”
