The number of people out of work and claiming jobseekers’ allowance in Oxfordshire last month rose to its highest level since April 2010.

A total of 8,188 or 2.6 per cent of the working age population are signed on the dole in February, 334 more than in January, according to figures released from the Office of National Statistics.

All five local districts of the county recorded rises.

Year on year, the February figure shows a rise of 77 over the same month in 2011.

Nationally, the number of people claiming jobseekers’ allowance increased for the 12th month in a row, up by 7,200 in February to 1.6 million, the worst figure since the end of 2009.

And total unemployment increased to a near 17-year high after another rise in the jobless total to almost 2.7 million.

Other figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that public sector employment fell by 37,000 in the final quarter of 2011 to just under six million, while the numbers employed in private firms increased by 45,000 to 23 million.

Public sector employment has fallen by 270,000 in the past year following the Government's spending cuts.