SOMERSET’S Chamber of Commerce has hit back at new record employment figures saying that Somerset businesses are facing staff shortages across the board.

Announcing the latest figures, David Guake, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, said: “There’s good news in the South West where there are a record high of 2.75 million people in work and a record employment rate of 79.1 per cent – higher than the national rate of 74.8 per cent.

“At 3.4 per cent the South West has the lowest unemployment rate in the country, 1.2 per cent points below the national rate of 4.6 per cent.”

However, Dale Edwards, chief executive of Somerset Chamber of Commerce, said: “On one hand it is absolutely fantastic that the South West has a record number of people in work, but on the other Somerset business owners face staff shortages across all sectors, skills and experience levels, with health, social care, engineering and construction highlighted as particular challenges.

“The skills and labour shortage is affecting growth and productivity, and it is essential the county retains and develops as much home grown talent as possible, along with attracting new workers to the area.”

Nigel Pearce, president of Taunton Chamber of Commerce, added: “The latest figures continue to be encouraging with a record high in terms of people in work and an employment rate of 79.1 per cent.

“This places us higher than the South East which is a change and improvement compared with the same period in 2016.

“We hope this trend will continue, but the current uncertainty as the Brexit negotiations start and the recent election is likely to make businesses more cautious, and there is evidence that businesses intending to recruit has dropped slightly since the previous quarter. Generally though business confidence remains high.

“These figures should give us reason to remain optimistic, but we must not become complacent.

“Taunton needs to continue to work hard to attract new businesses across the markets, and initiatives such as Nexus 25 should to be brought forward as quickly as possible to keep momentum going.

Cllr Mark Edwards, executive councillor for business development at TDBC, said: “These figures are good news for the whole of the South West and reflect well on Taunton Deane which has enjoyed encouraging statistics for several years, often bettering the regional highs.

“The council has ambitious development plans that will create even more jobs such as Firepool and the new Nexus 25 strategic employment site at Junction 25.”