THE number of unemployed people in Bradford has fallen slightly in the latest figures, but is still more than double the figure 12 months ago.

The latest Claimant Count figures - people claiming Job Seekers' Allowance and some Universal Credit claimants - revealed there are 31,060 people unemployed in the district as of December 10, 2020.

This is a slight fall from 31,085 people on November 12.

The percentage of working age adults - aged 16 to 64 - currently unemployed in the district however has remained at 9.4 per cent, meaning almost one in ten adults in Bradford are out of work.

For men, the figure is 11.2 per cent - more than one in ten - and 7.6 per cent of women in the district.

The percentage of population on the claimant count in Bradford is the highest in West Yorkshire by 2.5 per cent, is two per cent about the West Yorkshire average and three per cent higher than the UK average.

The latest claimant count figures are more than double the figure from 12 months previous, when there were 15,160 people out of work, 4.6 per cent of the population.

Across the UK, 2.6 million people are currently out of work, 1.2 million people higher than 12 months earlier.

Between September and November 2020, the most up to date figures, Yorkshire & Humber was the only region in England to record a rise in employment during that period compared to the same time in 2019.

In September to November 2020 there were 74,441 people employed in the region, compared with 73,354 in the same time frame from 2019.

However, the number of people unemployed in the region over the same time period also increased, from 4,341 in Sept-Nov 2019 to 5,068 in Sept-Nov 2020.

This could be explained by a fall of almost 1,700 in the number of people 'economically inactive' people - unemployed people who aren't actively looking for work - from 23,233 in Sept-Nov 2019 to 21,571 in Sept-Nov 2020.

While the number of people in work has gone up, the number of hours worked has fallen in the past 12 months. The total number of hours worked between October 2018 and September 2019 in Yorkshire and Humber stook at 82.8 million hours, but between October 2019 and September 2020 fell to 75.7 million hours.