ABOUT 1,000 more people are working in Worcester compared to five years ago, official figures show.

The latest figures reveal an employment rate, the proportion of people aged from 16 to 64 who were in work, of 78.1 per cent in the city.

That is more than five per cent higher than the equivalent West Midlands statistic of 72.7 per cent.

The number of people out of work has decreased since this time last year.

New figures announced on Tuesday show the unemployed count in Worcester has fallen to 1,105, after being at 1,220 in the same period last year.

The number of people between 18 and 24 claiming unemployment benefits decreased to 205 compared to 225 at this time last year.

A spokesman for Jobcentre Plus said: “For both figures, it is a massive drop when you compare to five years ago.

“Five years ago, the overall figure was 2,075 and the 18 to 24 bracket was at 565.”

“The Worcester employment rate is at 78.1 per cent, this compares very favourably to the West Midlands figure of 72.7 per cent.”

He added: “Obviously, we are working with employers to fill vacancies at the Job Centre.

“We have two job fairs coming up too; the Worcester News Job fair on September 13 and the Job Centre Plus fair on September 14, the day after.”

The Worcester News Jobs Fair is taking place at Worcester Guildhall from 9.30am to 3.30pm.

This free event features stands from an array of employers offering a mix of full-time and part-time positions.

For employers the event provides an opportunity to promote their company and meet potential employees face-to-face.

Nationally, unemployment (April to June) fell to its lowest level for more than 40 years, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures.

Wages also increased, by 2.7 per cent excluding bonuses, and 2.4 per cent including bonuses, compared with a year ago.

There were 32.39 million people in work, 42,000 more than for January to March 2018 and 313,000 more than for a year earlier.

There were 780,000 people in employment on “zero-hours contracts” in their main job, 104,000 fewer than for a year earlier.

EU nationals working in the UK fell by 86,000 to 2.28 million (the largest annual fall since comparable records began in 1997).