November 2024

Key Findings:

Claimant Count (people seeking work): 11,630 unemployed claimants of Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) and Universal Credit (UC – searching for work conditionality) in October 2024 (3.7% of working age people).

UC/JSA claimant numbers up by 10.3% (1,085 claimants) since October 2023, but down 0.3% (40 claimants) since September 2024. The claimant rate in East Sussex (3.7%) remains lower than national figure of 4.4%.

Universal Credit (people on low incomes):  54,227 people claiming any UC in October 2024 (17.3% of working age people), of whom 43,148 are not included in the Claimant Count above (i.e. not ‘Searching for work’ conditionality). Up by 14.0% since October 2023, lower than the national rise of 17.4%.

In East Sussex, overall unemployed claimant numbers have risen by 10.3% over the past year, from 10,545 in October 2023 to 11,630 in October 2024.  This compares to England, where the annual increase in claimant numbers was 18.5%.

There were 3.7% of working age people in East Sussex claiming UC/JSA in October 2024, lower than England rate (4.4%), but higher than the South East region (3.3%).

Claimant rates, England, South East, East Sussex and districts, October 2023 and 2024

Bar chart showing Claimant rates for England, South East, East Sussex and districts, for October 2023 and 2024. Claimant rates have increased in all areas, and nationally and regionally in the year to October 2024. Wealden continues to have the lowest claimant rate while Hastings and Eastbourne both remain significantly higher than the national average.

Youth unemployment is rising

  • Youth unemployment has seen a small increase in the year to October 2024 with the number of UC/JSA claimants aged 18-24 in East Sussex rising from 1,950 in October 2023 to 2,015 in October 2024, an increase of 3.3%. This is significantly lower than the national rise of 10.7% among young claimants over the same period.
  • 4% of people aged 18-24 in East Sussex are now claiming UC/JSA (October 2024), with numbers increasing by 4.7% (90 claimants) in the month to October 2024. The number of all young claimants rose in the year to October 2024, male claimants by 5.2% and female claimants by just 0.6%.
  • The highest levels of youth claiming are seen in Hastings, where 9.5% of young people are claiming UC/JSA, including 11.6% of young males in October 2024.

Number of unemployed claimants of UC/JSA

October 23 October 24 Actual change Annual % change
Eastbourne 2,535 2,805 270 10.7%
Hastings 2,930 2,985 55 1.9%
Lewes 1,725 2,050 325 18.8%
Rother 1,560 1,625 65 4.2%
Wealden 1,790 2,160 370 20.7%
East Sussex 10,545 11,630 1,085 10.3%
South East 162,235 188,245 26,010 16.0%
England 1,323,745 1,569,275 245,530 18.5%

Percentage of working age people claiming UC/JSA because of unemployment

October 22 October 23 October 24
Eastbourne 4.6% 4.3% 4.7%
Hastings 5.4% 5.2% 5.3%
Lewes 3.1% 3.0% 3.6%
Rother 3.3% 3.2% 3.3%
Wealden 2.2% 2.0% 2.4%
East Sussex 3.6% 3.4% 3.7%
South East 2.8% 2.8% 3.3%
England 3.6% 3.7% 4.4%

Claimant rate by ward in October 2024

 

Map showing JSA/UC Claimant rate in post 2019 wards in October 2024. The map shows the areas with the highest rates as dark green, with all areas above the national average showing as dark or mid green. The areas with the highest claimant rates are mostly located in the southern coastal areas of the county, but some other areas with high rates are located inland, in Hailsham East and Crowborough St Johns.

Wards

  • 22 East Sussex wards have rates above or equal to the England average (4.4%), with the highest rates in Devonshire (8.7%) in Eastbourne, and Central St Leonards (8.3%), Gensing (7.9%) and Castle (7.8%) in Hastings.
  • This includes 9 wards in Hastings, 5 in Eastbourne, 3 in Lewes, 3 in Rother and 2 in Wealden.
  • Crowborough St. Johns in Wealden remains above the national average at 5.2%.
  • 42 (post 2019) wards saw an increase in claimant numbers in the month to October 2024, while 52 wards saw a decline.

Districts

  • Claimant counts rose in three districts in the month to October 2024, up by 25 in Eastbourne and Lewes, and 5 in Hastings, but fell by 20 in Rother and 80 in Wealden.
  • All East Sussex districts saw claimant numbers increase over the year. The largest percentage increase in claimants since October 2023 was seen in Wealden (up 20.7%), while in Hastings claimant numbers only rose by 1.9%. The national average increase in claimants was 18.5% in the year to October 2024, and 16.0% regionally.
  • In October 2024 Hastings had the highest claimant rate in the county with 5.3% of working age people claiming UC/JSA because of unemployment.
  • Eastbourne rates were also above the national average with unemployed UC/JSA claimants making up 4.6% of the working age population compared to 4.3% nationally.

Universal Credit Claimants

In East Sussex in October 2024 there were 54,227 people claiming UC (17.3% of working age people) up 907 since September 2024 and up 6,657 since October 2023. In September 2024, 36.9% of all UC claimants were in employment, down from 37.3% in September 2023.

One of the reasons that the number of Universal Credit (UC) claimants is rising is because of the migration of claimants of other benefits such as Tax Credits, Employment and Support Allowance and Housing benefit, into the UC regime. This migration is being rolled out more assertively this year.

Employment indicator of Universal Credit claimants in East Sussex – September 2022, 2023 and 2024

This image shows a doughnut pie chart, comparing the employment status of Universal Credit claimants in September 2022-2024 (employment indicator not yet available for October 2024). It shows that the percentage of claimants in employment has fallen year on year from 39.4% in September 2022, to 37.3% in September 2023, and another fall to 36.9% in September 2024.

Change in number of UC claimants

October 2023 – October 2024 September 2024 – October 2024
Eastbourne 1,169 188
Hastings 1,204 242
Lewes 1,543 204
Rother 1,055 106
Wealden 1,689 168
East Sussex 6,657 907

October 2024 claimant numbers and rates

October 2024 total claimants
October 2024 % working age
Eastbourne 12,541 21.0
Hastings 13,765 24.7
Lewes 9,078 15.9
Rother 8,450 17.0
Wealden 10,444 11.3
East Sussex 54,277 17.3

 

Number of Universal Credit claimants by conditionality time series, October 2021-2024

Line chart showing the number of Universal Credit claimants by conditionality group between October 2021 and October 2024. While there has been a sustained decline among the searching for work group (lime green line) since July 2021 (until early 2024), these numbers are now higher than those working with no requirements (light blue line). The numbers of people who are ‘No work requirements’ (because of sickness/disability or caring - dark green line) have continued to increase at a constant rate and is now significantly higher than the numbers in any other conditionality group.

In the year to October 2024 there was an increase among most conditionality groups except those in the ‘Working – no requirements’ (down 3.6%) and ‘Planning for work’ (down 2.0%) groups. The largest increase in conditionality groups can be seen in the ‘no work requirements’ group, with 4,668 more claimants (up 26.2%) and the ‘Working with requirements’ group, with 1,229 more claimants (up 24.4%).

While the number of male unemployed UC/JSA claimants is higher than the number of female claimants (see dark green – male and blue – female lines, labelled ‘Claimant count’, below), the number of female claimants in all UC conditionality groups (light blue line) is much higher than the number of males (light green line) claiming, with female UC claimant numbers continuing to rise.

Male and female claimants of Universal Credit and UC/JSA unemployed claimant count, October 2020-2024, East Sussex

Line chart showing all claimants of Universal Credit (UC) and unemployed claimants of UC and JobSeekers Allowance (JSA), by sex, for the period October 2020 – October 2024. The chart shows that the number of female UC claimants in all conditionality groups has increased over the last year compared to a smaller increase in the number of male claimants. By contrast, numbers of unemployed claimants of both sexes was fairly stable or falling from July 2022 onwards, but rates have begun to rise again in the last couple of months.

Further information

Please be aware that the denominators used to calculate claimant count at national, regional, county and district levels have been updated with the 2012-2023 rebased mid-year estimates. While this has not significantly changed the figures, we anticipate these changes will have a larger impact on small area data. Small area mid-year estimates are due to be updated in summer 2025.

The Claimant Count measures the number of people who have made claims for benefits for reasons of unemployment.  Most new claimants for benefit are covered by Universal Credit, but there are some claimants who do not qualify for UC because they have savings of over £16,000, but may be entitled to contributions-based JSA which is not means-tested.

The main Claimant Count, which includes all JSA claimants and all UC claimants in the ‘searching for work’ conditionality group, gives an up-to-date measure of changes to the number of unemployed claimants. A small number of UC claimants may subsequently be reallocated to other conditionality groups.

To qualify for JSA or UC as a job seeker, claimants must meet certain eligibility criteria which include being available for and actively seeking work, although they may work less than 16 hours per week and still be eligible if their earnings are very low, as long as they continue to meet all the UC work-seeking requirements.  JSA claimants include those claiming only National Insurance credits.

The Claimant rate is defined as the number of claimants resident in an area expressed as a percentage of the working age population resident in that area which includes all people aged 16-64.  Rates for other age groups use the population of that age group.  Population figures are derived from the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) mid-year population estimates.

The Claimant Count is often used as an indicative measure of unemployment as it provides frequently updated information for a range of geographies.  Care should be taken not to confuse this with ONS official labour market statistics which use the International Labour Organisation’s definition of the unemployment rate, which includes all those aged 16 plus who are out of work, but actively seeking work, including those claiming no benefits, as a percentage of all Economically Active people aged 16 and over. These are based on the Labour Force Survey and Annual Population Survey, which is less statistically robust at county and district level.

Contact details

For further information about unemployment, benefits, claimants and other labour market data please contact esif@eastsussex.gov.uk.