NEW figures show the number of people claiming unemployment benefits in Redditch has fallen by 48 per cent since 2010.

In 2010 the number of people claiming out-of-work benefits in Redditch stood at 2,369.

This has fallen by a staggering 48 per cent between May 2010 and May 2018, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show.

The number of people in Redditch claiming out-of-work benefits in May 2018 was 1,139.

This is 55 lower than April 2018.

The number of young people aged 18 to 24 out-of-work has also more than halved in the past five years.

Redditch MP Rachel Maclean welcomed the news.

She said: “These aren’t just numbers, these are real people who are now back in work and benefitting from a regular paypacket. With a drop of 48 per cent in Redditch’s claimant count rate, that’s more than a 1,000 people now able to provide for their families."