People are again being urged to find out about rising job vacancies in Staffordshire if they are looking for employment or a change of career after the latest out-of-work claimant figures were released today.

There are numerous vacancies across the county in various sectors, from engineering to increasing roles in the hospitality sector following further easing of coronavirus restrictions.

Staffordshire County Council's deputy leader and cabinet member for economy and skills Philip White has again put out a call to anyone seeking employment – whether currently out of work or looking for a new career path – to find out more from the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Growth Hub and other partners.

Figures released today show that 3.9 per cent of the county population claimed out-of-work benefits in July.

The regional figure is now 6.5 per cent and national 5.5 per cent.

Philip White said: "We'd again ask people looking for employment or a career change to contact the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Growth Hub to find out more about the growing number of vacancies across the county and also training which leads to new employment.

"We have certainly seen an increase in vacancies across varied sectors and would expect to see this continue as the economy opens up further.

"The county council works closely with a range of organisations to identify where vacancies are being created, including the growth hub, DWP and our district and borough colleagues.

"We're aware that with the furlough scheme drawing to a close there may be more uncertainty for some employees so would urge them to get in touch to find out what support there is and potential opportunities."

The Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership runs a redundancy and recruitment triage service, made up of a range of organisations including the county council.

It aims to identify and promote new vacancies and work with businesses where there is a risk to people's employment.

Meanwhile the county council continues to promote its broad range of support schemes through the Staffordshire Means Back to Business programme.

This includes start-up schemes and apprenticeship support.

People can find out about all employment opportunities and business support initiatives at www.stokestaffsgrowthhub.co.uk

Working with district and borough councils, the £5million support package of support includes an investment to cover the costs for up to 500 apprentices, a training top-up fund for businesses to upskill their employees, a grants scheme to enable small businesses to thrive.

There is also a loan scheme for people who want to set up their own business and have completed an online Start-Up training course and a programme to support entrepreneurs currently in further education to set up their own business.

In addition, a countywide support initiative with the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) was launched early this year and small business loan scheme set up with not-for-profit lender BCRS.