Residents claiming unemployment benefits dropped from 2,698 in May to 2,639 in June across the city, according to the latest monthly figures from the Office for National Statistics released yesterday.

It is part of a trend showing an overall decline in unemployment in the city since January, when 2,907 people were signing on.

It is also down on the same time last year, with 121 fewer people than in June 2007.

The figures also show Havant remains the area with the highest claimant count at 1,288, although this too was down from May, when the figure stood at 1,321.

Other regions saw a rise.

Fareham had 649 people claiming benefits last month, while 734 did so in Gosport, against 574 and 711 respectively in May, and 542 and 717 in January.

Southampton saw a jump of 171 claimants over the last month, bringing it to 3,541.

As a county, Hampshire's figures rose to 8,637 last month from 8,116 the month before, with West Sussex's figures relatively stable at 5,316, in June from 5,377 in May.