Notes on the Claimant Count


The ONS has published its latest figures for January 2022 for the number of people claiming unemployment related benefits - the ONS Claimant Count. This briefing presents the latest statistics for local authorities in London.

The claimant count is the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance plus people claiming Universal Credit who are required to seek work. It is a timely source of data for tracking changes in the labour market at a local level, although many new claimants will not be wholly unemployed, partly due to changes in Universal Credit eligibility*. Some claimants will be unemployed and seeking work, others may be temporarily inactive or away from work, or employed but with low earnings. For more information see here.

Only non-seasonally adjusted data is available at the local level. We therefore use non-seasonally adjusted data throughout this briefing for consistency.

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*Under Universal Credit, a broader span of claimants are also required to look for work than under Jobseeker’s Allowance. The DWP Alternative Claimant Count series adjusts for this over time. However, that series is less timely than the ONS Claimant Count and the differences between the two are modest for recent periods.


London claimant count


Changes in the claimant count in London since March 2020, when the lockdown began, help to illustrate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • From March 2020 to January 2022, the non-seasonally adjusted claimant count rose from 187,000 to 339,000 (81%).
  • The claimant count peaked at approximately 509,000 in March 2021. Since then, the non-seasonally adjusted claimant count fell by around 170,000 (33%).
  • Focusing on the last month in the period up to January 2022, the non-seasonally adjusted claimant count fell by 3,070 (0.9%).

The following sections present a breakdown of the latest data for people living in local authorities in London.

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Source: Claimant count by sex and age (Nomis) – data is not seasonally adjusted (NSA).


Claimant count by London local authority


Across London local authorities in January 2022:

  • Haringey had the highest claimant rate at 8.1%, followed by Newham (7.8%) and Brent (7.7%).

  • Newham had the highest claimant count level at 19,500, followed by Brent (16,500) and Croydon (16,500).

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Claimant rate

Source: Claimant count by sex and age (Nomis) – data is not seasonally adjusted. Contains Ordnance Survey data Crown copyright and database rights [2015].


Number of claimants

Source: Claimant count by sex and age (Nomis) – data is not seasonally adjusted. Contains Ordnance Survey data Crown copyright and database rights [2015].


Changes by local authority


Between March 2020 and January 2022:

  • The boroughs of Newham, Brent and Haringey saw the largest absolute increases in the claimant count. They saw increases of 11,300 (138%), 8,640 (110%), and 7,700 (107%), respectively.

  • The boroughs with the highest percentage point increases in the claimant rate were Newham (4.5pp), Haringey (4.2pp), and Brent (4pp).

  • Men accounted for between 52% and 61% of the net increase in claimants recorded across local authorities.

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Change in claimant count

Source: Claimant count by sex and age (Nomis) – data is not seasonally adjusted.


Change in claimant rate

Source: Claimant count by sex and age (Nomis) – data is not seasonally adjusted.


Changes by age group


The change in claimant count by age group varies significantly across local authorities. Since March 2020 (excl. City of London):

  • Aged 16-24: Westminster saw the highest percentage change at 113%.

  • Aged 25-49: Newham saw the highest percentage change at 160%.

  • Aged 50+: Newham saw the highest percentage change at 127%.

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Source: Claimant count by sex and age (Nomis) – data is not seasonally adjusted.

Note: Excludes City of London


Claimant data by sub-region


The tables below provide detailed breakdowns of claimant count statistics for each London local authority, grouped by their respective London sub-regional partnership.

The ranks are assigned across all local authorities rather than within the sub-regional partnership.

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Central London Forward

Source: Claimant count by sex and age (via Nomis) – data is not seasonally adjusted and the figures are rounded to the nearest 5.

Notes: Local authorities are ranked within London overall (not by sub-region); claimant rates for sub-regions have been calculated using aggregated local authority data.

Local London

Source: Claimant count by sex and age (via Nomis) – data is not seasonally adjusted and the figures are rounded to the nearest 5.

Notes: Local authorities are ranked within London overall (not by sub-region); claimant rates for sub-regions have been calculated using aggregated local authority data.

South London Partnership

Source: Claimant count by sex and age (via Nomis) – data is not seasonally adjusted and the figures are rounded to the nearest 5.

Notes: Local authorities are ranked within London overall (not by sub-region); claimant rates for sub-regions have been calculated using aggregated local authority data.

West London Alliance

Source: Claimant count by sex and age (via Nomis) – data is not seasonally adjusted and the figures are rounded to the nearest 5.

Notes: Local authorities are ranked within London overall (not by sub-region); claimant rates for sub-regions have been calculated using aggregated local authority data.