Andrew Mitchell MP has welcomed the further reduction in unemployment in Sutton Coldfield which has fallen from 1,588 in May 2010 to 937 in March 2014. Unemployment among young people has fallen by almost fifty percent from 435 in May 2010 to 215 in March. These figures follow a national reduction in unemployment by 77,000 in the first quarter of the year and the creation of 1.7 million new private sector jobs since the last election including 8,000 new jobs in Birmingham announced last week as a result of the expansion of Birmingham Airport. Business confidence in Sutton Coldfield and the wider Birmingham area is also improving. The Birmingham Chamber of Commerce in its Quarterly Economic Survey of Businesses reported that more service sector firms were looking to take on staff and that turnover, profitability and confidence across manufacturing and service sectors has increased dramatically. Andrew Mitchell commented “It is very welcome to see unemployment continue to fall in Sutton Coldfield especially for young people. There is still more to do but these figures show the Conservatives’ economic plan is working. We cannot risk turning back on the good progress Britain is making”.