The South West jobs market is continuing to recover with a huge drop in the number of people claiming benefits - but wages lag behind soaring inflation.
Latest figures from the Department for Work and Pensions show 108,397 people were claiming Universal Credit in the region, a 36% drop from a year earlier when the Covid lockdowns were having a major effect.
But though the figure is down by 59,797 year on year, it is still 33,5325 more than five years ago - possibly because of a decline in the number of self-employed people.
