Figures published by the Office for National Statistics show that 1,635 people in the Isle of Wight area were claiming Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) during March 2016.
The figures show a drop of 145 since February 2016, when there were 1,780 JSA claimants, and a decrease of 188 from March 2015 (1,823).
Of those claiming in March 2016, 1,110 were male and 525 female.
That means 2% of the resident population of area aged 16-64 is claiming JSA – 1% more than the rest of the South East (1%), and 0.1% more than the whole of the UK (1.9%).
