East Midlands Chamber has cautiously welcomed a slight drop in the region’s unemployment to 5.1% but said skills investment is needed to get more suitable candidates into roles.
The estimated figure from the Office for National Statistics, for over 16s in the East Midlands, covers April to June 2026 and reflects a gradual downward trend, with minor fluctuation across 2026 but unemployment in the region remains higher than a year ago. In the same period in 2025 – April to June – the unemployment figure was 4.9%.
East Midlands Chamber Director of Policy and Insight Richard Blackmore said: “Unemployment in the East Midlands needs to keep falling and while the slight reductions we’ve been seeing as figures have been released in recent months are the right direction to be going in, we’d see a more substantial drop in unemployment if policymakers really get behind skills investment and put in place the innovative measures we’ve been calling for.
“Our Framework for Growth – the landmark publication we released just under a year ago – sets out specific ways to get skilled candidates into roles. We know, for example, the value of apprenticeships to employers but the process in setting them up is complex – so we propose measures like a single skills portal to simplify that.
“SMEs and microbusinesses would really benefit from flexible skills funds that work for the size of business. Training programmes are often set up in a way that’s too rigid for a business with limited capacity, for example. Our Quarterly Economic Survey has shown six out of ten East Midlands firms have struggled to find suitable staff so the skills gap has not gone away. Addressing skills in the ways we have proposed would help employers benefit from training and apprenticeships.
“The high cost of doing business right now, coupled with the costs directly associated with employing people have led to hesitant hiring as our research has revealed too. Less than half of East Midlands businesses have attempted to recruit, according to our Quarterly Economic Survey for Q2 but an opportunity is there for the taking to reduce that burden. Business will be looking to the Chancellor’s Budget on 28th October and will be eager to see measures that improve conditions and incentivise investment, including workforce expansion – it’s essential the Autumn Budget is fully supportive of business growth.”
View East Midlands Chamber’s Framework for Growth here
View East Midlands Chamber’s Quarterly Economic Survey, Q2, 2026 here
