UNEMPLOYMENT in the district has jumped again to hit the highest level in just over three years, according to the latest figures.

Data provided by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that there were 10,655 people claiming unemployment benefits across the Bradford district in October.

This is an increase of 5.1 per cent on the previous month, or 515 more claimants - one of the largest rises this year.

The claimant rate also increased to 3.2 locally - the last time it was this high was back in June 2015. The regional claimant rate remained static at 2.6 per cent and nationally it rose slightly to 2.3 per cent.

The data from the ONS includes those claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance and Universal Credit benefits principally for unemployment reasons. In Bradford the “full service” introduction of Universal Credit began in June, following on from the benefit being available for new, single claimants from the end of 2015.

Tracy Othen, partnership manager for the Department for Work and Pensions in Bradford, said: “Nationally the employment rate remains high at 75.57 per cent.

“Overall the claimant count in Bradford is 37 per cent less than 5 years ago with that figure increasing to 52 per cent for 18-24 year olds.

“We are continuing to work with employers and partners to identify opportunities for our customers. This November in particular is Disability Confident month and we are talking to employers that we work with them to give them information about the scheme and how to sign up.”

She added that the Find a Job service which provides a service for employers to post jobs and for jobseekers to view and apply for those available jobs, now displays the Disability Confident badge on job adverts.

The number of claimants also rose in all five of the district’s parliamentary constituencies.

The largest increase was in Shipley with a jump of 8.7 per cent, or 85 more people, to reach 1,065 claimants in October.

In Keighley there was a rise of 8.5 per cent, a total of 105 extra people claiming, to reach 1,340 claimants.

Meanwhile in Bradford East, a rise of 6.2 per cent, saw the number of claimants climb by 170 last month to reach a total of 2,920.

Bradford South witnessed an increase of 5.3 per cent, or 110 extra claimants, to reach 2,200 in October.

The smallest increase was in Bradford West, which saw a 1.6 per cent rise, or 47 people, to reach 3,135 claimants.

Regionally the figure was 90,331, a rise of 1.8 per cent or 1,633 people. Nationally there were 967,735 claimants, a rise of 20,200 or 2.1 per cent over the same period.