The annual rate of people claiming jobseekers’ allowance in Oxfordshire has risen for the second month in a row.
There are now 7,890 people on the dole in the county — 460 more than at the same time last year, according to the latest figures for July produced by the Office for National Statistics.
The monthly rate has also risen for the first time since February with 298 more claimants in July than June and a total of 1.9 per cent of the county’s workforce signing on.
Nationally, the number of people claiming the benefit showed the biggest monthly rise in more than two years, increasing by 37,100 to 1.56 million people.
The total number of unemployed people in the UK including those not claming benefits rose unexpectedly by 38,000 to 2.49 million, 7.9 per cent of the workforce. Economists had expected a fall of about 10,000.
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