THE number of people out of work in Herefordshire is slightly higher than at the same time last year.

The latest job figures, which were released last week, show that the number of people claiming unemployment benefits in the county is 1,205 – 100 up from last year's March figure of 1,105.

The number of current claimants aged 18 to 24 however, is 265. This is a decrease on the same time last year when the total was 290.

Mike Dzioba, of Jobcentre Plus, said the roll-out of Universal Credit may have had some impact on the figures as there are now more people expected to be looking for work.

He said: "It's a relatively small increase so difficult to put your finger on anything specific. We haven't seen a major trend in the labour market in terms of significant redundancies."

He said the figures are considerably better than at the same time five years ago, when the total was 1,182.

Nationally, the number of people in work is at a record high of 31.84 million. This is up by 312,000 on last year.

Average pay is also up by 2.3 per cent on the figure last year, he added.