There were over 300 new claims for Universal Credit in West Lothian over a two month period.
Official statistics from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) have revealed that between December 10, 2020 to February 11, 2021 another 314 people signed up for the benefit.
This represents a two per cent caseload change, and means West Lothian has 0.3 per cent of all claimants in the United Kingdom.
There are 6,026,383 claimants of the benefit across the UK, a spike of 126,534 between December and February.
This took the overall figure for claimants of Universal Credit in West Lothian to 16,126, as of February 11.
Scotland has 488,553 people claiming Universal Credit, an increase of 10,830 in the two month period.
The DWP say that not all of the increases in claimants is down to people losing their job or having reduced income.
It is also due to increases in Universal Credit bringing people with higher incomes onto Universal Credit eligibility and the temporary policy of keeping nil-claims open for up to six assessment periods of no payment award.
Minister for employment, Mims Davies MP, said: “Today’s figures highlight the challenges facing us on our road to recovery, but there is reason for optimism with more workers on payrolls and over half a million vacancies out there.
The UK Government’s Plan for Jobs is delivering for people of all ages right across Scotland and the rest of country - and with the recruitment of over 800 Work Coaches and the launch of our £22m Job-Entry Targeted Support, we’re helping even more Scots back into work as we push to build back better.”
The DWP are hosting an Online Jobsfair for people in West Lothian on Twitter on Wednesday April 21 from 11am and a vacancy will be tweeted every minute over a 30-minute session.
Follow @JCPinLothBorderfor the latest jobs and more information.
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