REVEALED: Where in Sheffield are the most people in work?

The claimant count in parts of Sheffield is rising (photo: Rui Vieira/PA Wire)

There are nearly 9,400 claimants in Sheffield who are required to seek work, new data from the Office for National Statistics shows - a rate of 2.5 per cent, which has not changed in the last year and is above the UK average of 2.1 per cent.

The claimant count has risen during the past year in the constituencies of Sheffield Heeley, Sheffield Central, and Sheffield South East, though it has fallen in Hallam, Brightside & Hillsborough, and Penistone & Stocksbridge.

Sheffield Heeley MP Louise Haigh says the latest employment figures should 'shame' the Government

Raiders smash their way into Sheffield house using paving slab

Louise Haigh, MP for the constituency, said: "The rise in unemployment should be a source of shame for the Government.

"We’re seeing the consequences of eight years of their running down of our country, with hundreds of young people in the area I represent not being able to work, earn and build a life for themselves."

Nationally, the claimant count - which is often used as an indicator for unemployment - rose by nine per cent to over 870,000.

The employment rate, meanwhile, stands at a joint record high of 75.3 per cent.

Work and pensions secretary Esther McVey said: "Getting a job means securing an income for a family and the chance to build a better future. That’s why up and down the country we are doing all we can to help people into work."

Unemployment figures measure the number of people without a job who have been actively seeking work and are available to start work within the next fortnight, while the claimant count is the number of people receiving benefits principally for the reason of being unemployed.

The latest unemployment figures for Sheffield, published in January, showed 17,000 people aged 16 or over were out of work - a rate of exactly six per cent.

Ms Heeley said the claimant count for Sheffield is expected to rise with the full rollout of Universal Credit, scheduled for November this year.

WHAT IS UNEMPLOYMENT LIKE WHERE YOU LIVE?

Unemployment figures

Sheffield: 6.0 per cent (17,000 people aged 16 or over)

Rotherham: 4.9 (6,000)

Doncaster: 6.0 (9,000)

Barnsley: 5.1 (6,000)

* latest figures published by the ONS on January 24, 2018

Claimant count

Penistone & Stocksbridge: 815 claimants required to seek work (-1 per cent annual change)

Sheffield Central: 2,010 (+3)

Sheffield South East: 1,550 (+5)

Sheffield, Brightside & Hillsborough: 2,740 (-2)

Sheffield Hallam: 475 (-8)

Sheffield Heeley: 2,015 (+2)

* latest figures published by the ONS on March 21, 2018