UNEMPLOYMENT has risen in Bournemouth and some other parts of Dorset for the first time in years.

The number of people claiming jobseekers allowance in April stood at 1,855 in April, up by 60 – or three per cent – on the same period last year.

East Dorset’s claimant count also rose three per cent, to 310, while Weymouth and Portland saw its count rise nine per cent to 580.

The Department for Work and Pensions stressed that the longer-term trend is still sharply down, with Bournemouth’s claimant count 54 per cent below its 2010 level.

David McArthur, Dorset and New Forest account manager for the department, said: “There has been a certain degree of redundancy which has impacted on the figures but overall we’re still down.

“When you look at the way everything is going in general, with West Central and the Meteor retail park, overall activity is very positive.”

The New Forest saw unemployment fall six per cent year on year, with 40 more people in work, and Mr McArthur said this could be due to a boom in Southampton’s economy.

“When you look at the New Forest travel-to-work area, there’s a lot of positive things happening, whereas people from Poole and Bournemouth don’t tend to travel as far as individuals from the New Forest area to work,” he said.

He said unemployment across the wider area was down, with 200,000 more people in work in the South West than in 2010.

Nationally, unemployment fell to 1.69million between January and March, down 2,000 from the previous quarter – but the number of job vacancies also fell, for the first time in almost a year. The figure follows several weakening economic indicators recently, with commentators citing uncertainty ahead of the vote on European Union membership.

Mr McArthur said: “Thought and considerations about the future can impact on the thoughts of finance companies, language schools and the care sector companies, alongside others.”

Claimant count figures for the rest of Dorset were: Christchurch 225, down 15 (six per cent year-on-year); North Dorset 240, down five (two per cent); Poole 975, down 25 (three per cent); Purbeck 170, down 10 (six per cent); West Dorset 310, down 40 (11 per cent).