This page provides constituency-level data on people claiming unemployment benefits.

This page shows two different series:

  1. The claimant count: this shows the number of people who are claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance, or are claiming Universal Credit and are required to seek work.
  2. The alternative claimant count: this models how many people would have claimed these benefits had Universal Credit been fully in place since 2013. This series does not represent the actual number of people claiming, but provides a better indication of trends before 2020 than the unadjusted figures. This data series was discontinued in 2022.

Further information on these two series is provided in the Library briefings Universal Credit and the Claimant Count and People claiming unemployment benefits by constituency.

The claimant count

Use the dropdown menu to select the constituency you’re interested in and view key statistics.

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Download all data in Excel (13.2 MB)

If you would like to access this information in an alternative format please email papers@parliament.uk and we will review your request.

The alternative claimant count

Use the dropdown menu to select the constituency you’re interested in and view key statistics.

Open a printable version
Download all data in Excel (13.2 MB)

If you would like to access this information in an alternative format please email papers@parliament.uk and we will review your request.

Compare constituencies

Use the dropdown menu to select the constituency you’re interested in and view key statistics.

Open a printable version
Download all data in Excel (13.2 MB)

If you would like to access this information in an alternative format please email papers@parliament.uk and we will review your request.

Notes

Figures are not seasonally adjusted. Figures from January 2013 are rounded to the nearest five. The claimant rate is number of claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16–64.

There are changes in the coverage of the series in November 2013 and April 2015:

  • Figures up to October 2013 show numbers of Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants (although for a small number of constituencies in the North West of England, Universal Credit had already been introduced between May 2013 and October 2013).
  • Figures for November 2013 to March 2015 show the number of Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants plus the number of people not in work and claiming Universal Credit, in areas where Universal Credit had then been introduced.
  • Figures for April 2015 onwards show the number of Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants plus the number of people claiming Universal Credit who were required to seek work.

Under Universal Credit, a broader span of claimants are required to look for work than under Jobseeker’s Allowance. This has the effect of increasing the number of unemployed claimants. The alternative claimant count models how many people would have claimed these benefits had Universal Credit been fully in place since 2013, so eliminates this artificial increase. For more details see the Library’s briefing paper on Universal Credit and the claimant count.

Data updates

This dashboard is updated monthly on the day that new data is released.

Sources