Hope over unemployment rise

UNEMPLOYMENT rates are still rising but not as sharply as previously expected, according to the Portsmouth JobCentre.

Figures released yesterday show that while there were six million people on Universal Credit nationally in February, this was just a two per cent increase from the month before.

However this is a 100 per cent increase year on year, up from three million people, although changes to Universal Credit eligibility allowing people with higher incomes to claim means that people who are in work but claiming benefits are now counted.

The last Alternative Claimant Count in November – which looks at those people searching for work – showed there were 2.74 million unemployed in the UK, a 1.5 per cent increase in the last quarter and 110 per cent increase in the last year.

Figures in Portsmouth found there were 21,730 people on Universal Credit in February, up from 21,241 the month before.

In Havant, Gosport and Fareham, there were also increases in the amount of people claiming.

In Havant, the number rose from 10,111 in January to 10,380 in February, in Gosport it rose from 7,153 to 7,335 and in Fareham it rose from 5,507 to 5,622.

Senior employer and partnership manager at Portsmouth JobCentre Ed Coomber said: ‘We have seen a steady state over the last month.

‘It shows us that the economy is recovering, and proves that the schemes we are running are keeping staffing levels under control.