SPR is bucking the bleak jobs market trend

The unemployment rate for the West Midlands is the highest in the UK outside of London, new figures revealed today.

Despite this, Starting Point Recruitment (SPR), the multi-sector jobs agency based in Walsall and Birmingham, continues to buck the bleak jobs market trend, having landed 50% more jobseekers into work this year than in 2024.

ONS Labour Force Survey paints a grim picture

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed in its December 2025 Labour Force Survey (LFS), a lagging report on the period August to October, that the UK’’s overall unemployment rate rose by 0.4 percentage points to 5.1%.

Despite reducing by 0.2 percentage points on the previous quarter (May to July), the West Midlands region’s unemployment rate of 5.9% is the worst in the country behind London at 6.8%, the ONS said.

The West Midlands’ employment rate, indicating the proportion of working-age people in work, for the three months to the end of October is 73.6%, below the national rate of 74.9%.

149,000 fewer people in work in October 2025 than in 2024

Estimates for payrolled employees in the UK fell by 149,000 (0.5%) between October 2024 and October 2025, the ONS report said.

Liz McKeown, ONS director of economic statistics, said: “The overall picture continues to be of a weakening labour market. The number of employees on payroll has fallen again, reflecting subdued hiring activity, while firms told us there were fewer jobs in the latest period.

“This weakness is also reflected in an increase in the unemployment rate, while vacancies remained broadly flat. The fall in payroll numbers and increase in unemployment have been seen particularly among some younger age groups.

“Wage growth slowed further in the private sector, while increasing again in the public sector, reflecting the continued impact of some pay rises being awarded earlier than they were last year.”

SPR’s most successful year despite headwinds

Meanwhile, one recruitment firm in the West Midlands, SPR, said 2025 had been the most successful year in its 23-year history. It secured jobs for 1,091 people across 2025, up 49.45% from 730 in 2024.

Professor Paul Cadman, CEO of SPR, said: “We look at the person, not just their CV, when we assess candidates for roles.

“Each one of these people is an individual story of hope and, in many cases, newfound purpose and self-confidence as young men and women who were out of work get back into employment, graduates begin their first jobs and military veterans transition from active service to work outside the armed forces.”

The ONS report for the three months to the end of October said the highest employment rate in the UK was in the South West (79.0%), while the lowest was in the North East (70.5%).