Employment prospects in Bradford remain good but competition for jobs will intensify, partly because of the number of EU workers from eastern Europe coming here in search of work, says Bradford Chamber of Commerce.

Mike Cartwright, the chamber's head of policy, said some migrants were seasonal workers who came to the area on a regular basis and others were looking for work in sectors such as construction where employment prospects would increase as the various regeneration programmes for Bradford went ahead.

The Department of Work and Pensions issued more than 6,500 national insurance certificates to migrants coming to Bradford between April, 2006, and March, 2007. Local businesses remain generally optimistic about job prospects in the district, with many employers still expecting to recruit staff, despite a tougher economic climate, as confirmed by chamber's latest quarterly trends survey this week..

Mr Cartwright said: "The labour market in Bradford remains fairly buoyant with many businesses still looking to recruit good quality staff. There's a lull following the festive season but we remain reasonably hopeful about employment trends."

The latest unemployment figures show that the number of jobless people in Yorkshire remains above the national average and has continued to rise while the number of people in work in the UK as a whole has reached a record high.

Figures from the Office of National Statistics show that Yorkshire was one of three English regions to see an increase in unemployment between September and November last year.

Those out of work and claiming benefit in the region rose by 7,000 to 141,000 - an unemployment rate of six per cent, compared with the national rate of 5.3 per cent. Those in work increased by 175,000 to 29.3 million, the highest figure since records began in 1971, the biggest quarterly increase in employment for a decade.

Meanwhile, a survey of financial chiefs has revealed increasing concern about the potential impact of the credit crunch on UK businesses, according to business services group Deloitte.