Unemployment-related benefit claims have risen in East Hampshire, with youth joblessness showing the sharpest increase, according to new figures released this week.

Data published by the Office for National Statistics shows that in November 2025 there were 1,090 people in East Hampshire claiming unemployment-related benefits, equivalent to 2.0 per cent of residents aged 16 to 64. The comparable UK claimant rate was 3.9 percent.

The number of claimants locally was up 25 on the previous month and up 20 on the same time last year.

Figures for young people showed a steeper rise. There were 190 claimants aged 18 to 24 in November, an increase of 20 on the month and 50 higher than a year earlier.

East Hampshire MP Damian Hinds said the local figures reflected a wider national trend.

“UK unemployment has now gone above 5 percent, not surprising I am afraid with the higher tax costs of hiring people, and the impending arrival of new employment rules legislation,” he said.

“There isn't a directly equivalent figure at a local level, but looking at the count of people claiming out-of-work benefits, this trend is being replicated in East Hampshire, albeit our level of unemployment is invariably lower than the national one.

“The really big worry is youth joblessness. It is always young people that bear the brunt of unemployment first, and hardest. These figures ought to make the government rethink its whole approach to the labour market and business.”

The claimant count includes people receiving Jobseeker’s Allowance and those on Universal Credit who are required to seek work. While it is not the same as the unemployment rate, it is regarded as the best available indicator at constituency level.