A total of 369 more people claimed the benefit last month, compared with June's figures. Portsmouth's deputy leader of the Tory party, Cllr Alistair Thompson, said: 'This is a very worrying trend which highlights the faltering national economy as wel
l as the economic problems locally.'
In Portsmouth alone, numbers rose from 2,639 in June to 2,829 in July – an increase of 190. Fareham still has the lowest number of people claiming, despite rises across the area.
In July, there were 683 claimants in Fareham compared with 649 in June.
Meanwhile, Gosport has seen a rise of 36 from 734 to 770, and Havant has seen a rise of 16 more claimants from 1,288 to 1,304. In Chichester, the number of people claiming has risen from 654 to 747.
Cllr Thompson added: 'It will be no consolation to the people that have lost their jobs but although the government is blaming this on the credit crunch, it is a recession and the blame lies both globally and with the government.
'It has been said that it will get worse before it gets better and I think there is very little that can be done in this difficult situation other than to grin and bear it.'
The full article contains 235 words and appears in The News newspaper.
