Unemployment in this area rose slightly in July after falling to record lows the month before. The rate for men continues to fall, but there was a sharp increase in the number of jobless women.

While nationally the unemployment rate stands at 3.7 per cent, it is just 2.9 per cent in Coventry and Warwickshire, where it was 2.8 per cent in the month before that.

There are now 274 more people looking for work in the city and county, but there were was a 14 per cent increase in the number of vacancies to balance that.

The rise in the number of jobless in July is put down to the summer holidays. The highest increase in unemployment was in North Warwickshire with an extra 46 claimants, giving a 6.8 per cent rise month by month,

Rugby had the next biggest rise with another 44 people looking for work in the borough, provoking a 4.3 per cent rise on the previous month.

Coventry and Warwick both saw their unemployment rate rise by 2.8 per cent - the smallest increase came in Nuneaton and Bedworth, with an extra seven job seekers the proportion up by 0.4 per cent.

But for those looking for work, the good news is that there are more jobs.

North Warwickshire saw its number of vacancies shoot up by three quarters (74.3 per cent) with an extra 52 jobs to be filled. While Warwick’s number of unfilled jobs rose by more than a third (38.1 per cent) and Rugby’s by a quarter with 103 new jobs waiting for staff.

The number of women out of work rose sharply, pushing up the previous 2,734 figure by 11.4 per cent to 4,047.

But the number of men registered as looking for work dropped slightly, falling by a total of 39 to 8,875 in total across Coventry and Warwickshire.

This difference in the sexes is put down to the number of women who given up work over summer to look after youngsters through school holidays.

Other reasons for the overall rise in unemployment is the number of school and university leavers who have yet to find full-time employment.

Gareth Brown, analyst with Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber, said:

“One possible reason for the contrasting male and female unemployment figures can be explained by the number of parents who have had to leave part-time or full-time work in order to care for children who are not in full-time education over the summer holiday period."