Posted on: 2 May 2024

The Office for National Statistics has released its monthly figures on people in the UK claiming unemployment-related benefits. The ONS measure includes “out of work Universal Credit claimants” and “Job Seeker’s Allowance claimants.”

For 16 to 64 year olds, the national average for claimants per local authority sits at 4,476.

In December, the average number of claimants per local authority sat at 4,316. There has been a very gradual increase in the number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits at a nationwide level since March 2023.

As with previous months, Birmingham has the highest proportion of claimants against total population – with a figure of 8.9%.

The Orkney Isles has the lowest rate at 1.5%. For the last two months, the Isle of Scilly held the lowest rate at 1.8%. This has increased by 0.2% this month.

Use the interactive map below or click here to open the map in another tab.