County jobless figure rises (From Oxford Mail)

County jobless figure rises

2:59pm Wednesday 15th February 2012 in News By Chris Koenig

The number of people out of work and claiming job seekers’ allowance in Oxfordshire increased last month by 243 to 7,854, or 1.8 per cent of the working age population.

The rise follows four successive months in which the number of people claiming benefit in Oxfordshire fell.

Year on year the figure for January 2012 is up 0.1 per cent on the same month a year ago.

The claimant count increased in all Oxfordshire districts, but it is highest in Oxford City at 3.4 per cent, or 2,752 people.

The county figure compares with a national statistic of 1,649,190 claimants, or 4.1 per cent, a rise of 6,900 and the 11th consecutive monthly increase Charles Levy, senior economist at The Work Foundation, said: "The Chancellor must use next month’s Budget to bolster business confidence and enable companies to begin hiring again."