Figures published by the Office for National Statistics show that 1,255 people in the Isle of Wight area were claiming ‘out of work benefits’ during August 2016.
The figures show rise of 40 since July 2016, when there were 1,215 claimants, and a rise of 80 from August 2015 (1,175 JSA claimants).
Of those claiming in August 2016, 805 were male and 455 female.
New measures
The measure of those receiving ‘out of work benefit’s has been changed by the Office of National Statistics. In the past it was based purely on those claiming Job Seekers Allowance.
The change now includes Universal Credit and is still experimental, so ONS says, will not necessarily be a true reflection of the situation.
They say,
The Claimant Count is the number of people claiming benefit principally for the reason of being unemployed.
This is measured by combining the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) and National Insurance credits with the number of people receiving Universal Credit principally for the reason of being unemployed. Claimants declare that they are out of work, capable of, available for and actively seeking work during the week in which the claim is made.
The measure of the number of people receiving Universal Credit principally for the reason of being unemployed is still being developed by the Department for Work and Pensions.
Consequently this component of the total Claimant Count does not yet correctly reflect the target population of unemployed claimants and is subject to revisions. For this reason the Claimant Count is currently designated as Experimental Statistics.
That means 1.6% of the resident population of area aged 16-64 is claiming out of work benefits – 0.5% more than the rest of the South East (1.1%), and 0.2% below the whole of the UK (1.8).
Image: HelenCobain under CC BY 2.0
