THE number of people out of work and claiming benefit in Oxfordshire in May increased by just four to 9,637.

And in all five districts except Oxford City, numbers of claimants actually fell slightly since April.

In Oxford the figure increased from 2,914 to 2,974.

In Cherwell the figure dropped from 2,474 to 2463; in South Oxfordshire, 1,654 to 1,646; in the Vale of the White Horse, 1,458 to 1,433; and in West Oxfordshire, 1133 20 1,121.

Nationally there were 1,564,978 people claiming Jobseekers Allowance in May, up from 1,557,616 the previous month. And in the South East Region, of which Oxfordshire is part, the figure increased from 153,608 to 154,868.

The numbers, released today by the Office of National Statistics, show that 2.4 per cent of Oxfordshire people are now out of work, compared with a national figure of 4.1 per cent, and a South East regional figure of three per cent.