UNEMPLOYMENT figures released by Gloucestershire County Council showed an increase in the number of Universal Credit claimants from last month.

Forest of Dean’s unemployment figures for June showed 1,380 people on the claimant count, an increase from May’s figure of 1,335.

Across the county, The claimant count increased to 10,620, which is a rate of 2.7 per cent. Gloucestershire overall saw 325 extra persons on the claimant count.

The claimant count is a measure of the number of people who are unemployed and claiming benefits. It is simply a count of people claiming relevant benefits, so it is subject to changes in benefit rules and welfare to work schemes.

Full data is on the Gloucestershire County Council website.