Job Centre sign:

A seasonal fall in those claiming Job Seekers Allowance

Figures for unemployed claimants came out this morning which show that 3,852 people on the Isle of Wight were claiming Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) in March 2013.

Unemployment Benefit figures released by the Office for National Statistics show a fall of 34 since March 2012, which reported 3,886 JSA claimants, and a rise of 258 from February 2013 (4,110).

That means 4.7% of the resident population of area aged 16-64 is claiming JSA – 2.2% more than the rest of the South East (2.5%), and 0.9% more than the whole of the UK (3.8%).