House of Commons Library constituency unemployment figures for December 2015 were published on Wednesday 20 January at 9.30am.
The total number of unemployed claimants in Cheltenham constituency in December 2015 was 655.This represents a rate of 1.2% of the economically active population aged 16 to 64, the 499th highest of the 650 UK constituencies. (1st = highest claimant rate, 650th = lowest claimant rate.) The equivalent UK claimant rate was 2.4%.
This includes 478 people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance and 177 people who were claiming Universal Credit but were not in employment. Some of these Universal Credit claimants may no longer be seeking work.
The total number of claimants (both Jobseeker's Allowance and Universal Credit) is 199 lower than in December 2014 and 52 lower than in November 2015.
There were 130 claimants aged 18-24 in Cheltenham constituency in December 2015, 65 lower than in December 2014. (Figures for 18-24 year olds are rounded to the nearest 5.)
Commenting on the figures, Alex Chalk said: “This further drop in unemployment is very welcome news. But with the sun shining, we need to get on with fixing the roof. That means publishing a long-term economic plan for Cheltenham to generate the local jobs of the future in sectors from retail to cyber."