The number of people claiming out-of-work benefits in Bradford is increasing ten times more slowly than across other parts of Yorkshire.

Official monthly figures for August show there are 15,945 people claiming Job Seekers’ Allowance (JSA) across the district – up 75 on the previous month.

A breakdown of today’s figures reveals that almost one in three of the claimants (4,810) are 18 to 24-year-olds. A further 8,845 are aged 25 to 49 and 2,290 people over 50 are claiming the benefit.

Across Yorkshire and Humber JSA claimants rose by 4.9 per cent but Bradford’s increase was significantly lower at just 0.4 per cent. Nationally JSA claimants rose by 24,400 (4.2 per cent) to 1.6 million.

Latest figures for West Yorkshire show 24,295 people in Leeds, 12,340 in Kirklees, 9,455 in Wakefield and 6,459 in Calderdale are claiming JSA.

Employment Minister Jim Knight said: “We will not let people down in these tough times. The figures show that families across Britain are still being affected by the world recession and make clear how important it is to keep up the investment to get people back into work. The actions we have taken in recent months are starting to pay off.

“The number of people who have been claiming Jobseekers Allowance for up to six months has been declining in recent months, and about 70 per cent of claimants are leaving benefit within that time.”

The Government has promised all 16 and 17-year-olds a place at college or school, and an extra 35,000 apprentice places have been announced. And graduates who have been claiming JSA for six months or more will be able to do an internship alongside claiming benefit and looking for work.

Mr Knight added: “It’s critical that we continue investing in people’s future and don’t just abandon them. We must all play a part in making sure we don’t lose a generation.”

According to the Department for Work and Pensions there are 1,705 jobs being advertised on boards in JobCentre Plus offices across Bradford. The Government says only one-third of all jobs are held by the JCPs, meaning there could be about 5,115 jobs available.

UK unemployment rose by 210,000 in the three months to July to reach a 14-year high of 2.47 million. A local breakdown of figures will not be available until next month.