Youth unemployment in three Staffordshire towns halves in year
The rate of youth unemployment in Cannock, Rugeley and Hednesford has halved in a year, according to new figures.
The number of 18 to 24-year-olds out of work at the beginning of September was 3.2 per cent, compared to 6.4 per cent at the same time in 2013.
The news has been welcomed by Cannock Chase Council leader George Adamson who said the authority had set itself a target to have the lowest rate of youth unemployment in the West Midlands region by 2018.
Councillor Adamson said: "This is a big fall, and I am delighted to see it. We are doing our best to promote job opportunities by securing commercial floorspace for companies to set up business here.
"We aimed to create 20,000sq m of new business premises over the last two years and we have more than trebled that since April 2013. This is a plan that is clearly bearing fruit."
The bulk of the new floorspace is being provided at the Amazon depot in Rugeley, the third biggest of the eight warehouses the company has so far opened in the UK.
The new figures equate to a drop in the number of young people out of work in the Cannock Chase District from 515 to 265.
