A dramatic fall in unemployment across Coventry and Warwickshire has been welcomed by the region’s leading business organisation.
The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce said the drop to 7,227 from 7,516 in Coventry and the fall to 5,180 from 5,494 in Warwickshire was a further sign of economic improvement.
But Chamber chief executive Louise Bennett has warned against complacency.
She said: “This further decline in unemployment continues the trend that we have seen over recent months.
“It bears out what our members have been telling us: that they are growing and taking on new staff to support that growth.
“It’s great news and is very welcome but it is vitally important that everyone takes a pause for breath and remember where the economy was just a couple of years ago.
“Rising confidence and falling unemployment is what we all want to see but we are still too early into the recovery to think the job is done and that’s why I would like to see calls for a rise in interest rates to be quelled until the New Year at the earliest.
“Despite the very positive figures, getting more young people into work or training remains a priority and that is more likely to happen against a backdrop of confidence and stronger growth.
“Through CWT – the Chamber’s training arm – we are delivering more apprenticeships across our patch than any other organisation and we are also working on a pan-European basis to help young, unemployed people to find opportunities to establish businesses of their own.
“It is vital that the hard work continues. The unemployment figures are falling but nobody should become complacent and lose sight of the fact that reducing youth unemployment remains a major task that requires innovation and effort across the board.”