There’s been a slight rise in the number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits in the East Hampshire constituency.

The latest claimant count figures show there’s been a 0.2 per cent increase in the number of individuals claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance or Universal Credit.

While the figures published by the Office of National Statistics show a rise from 2 to 2.2 per cent the figure is nearly half the UK average of 4.3 per cent.

“These latest indicators show that, while there is some increase in East Hampshire’s claimant count, local unemployment is still low,” said Damian Hinds MP.

“This comes amidst a national picture of overall unemployment being still low by historical standards, if not quite at the modern-period low point reached a couple of years ago.”

The ONS has also revealed average wages increased in real terms in the three months to June by more than two per cent.