Unemployment benefit claimant figures show a decrease in Guildford

New figures on unemployment benefit claimants were released today by the Office for National Statistics and, as far as Guildord is concerned, it makes for encouraging reading.

Whilst there are currently 1,220 people on benefits (1.8% of the town), that is a drop of 1.4% year-on-year. 2.3% of men in Guildford are on benefits compared 1.2% of women in the constituency.

This highlights the strength of the current local economy, following news last year that it was to be awarded the much-treasured AAA credit rating from Moody's Investors Service – the first district council in the county to receive such a rating.

If you were to compare those figures with other constituencies from across Surrey it shows that Guildford has the most people on benefits but it's worth stating that the population of the constituency is quite big and undeniably a major factor.

If you were to look at the figures from a nationwide perspective it makes for grim reading. The unemployment rate is now at 8.4%, the highest it's been since 1995.

What do you think of these figures? Are you surprised or not so much? Do they portray an accurate representation of what is happening in the town? Let us know your thoughts on unemployment in Guildford with a comment.

Also, what else do you want us to show with the data from the ONS with regards to unemployment locally? Do let us know and we'll try our best with charts and graphs.