THE long-running decline in unemployment in Cumbria could be petering out.

The number of job hunters claiming Jobseeker's Allowance and the new Universal Credit fell steadily throughout 2015.

Although there is normally an increase at the start of the year – following the loss of seasonal jobs in retailing and food production – the latest figures for March show a further slight increase, despite the availability of jobs in tourism with Easter falling early.

There were 4,925 claimants, up from a re-stated figure of 4,920 in February. Although the increase is tiny, unemployment would normally fall at this time of year.

Allerdale's claimant count increased by five to 1,150 (2.0 per cent of the workforce), Carlisle's jumped by 20 to 975 (1.4 per cent), Copeland's also increased by 20 to 955 (2.2 per cent), while Eden's was unchanged at 245 (0.8 per cent).

But in Barrow the number of claimants fell by 30 to 1,195 (2.9 per cent of the workforce) and in South Lakeland it fell by five to 410 (0.7 per cent).

The county's JobCentres are making concerted effort to get long-term claimants into work.

Jennifer Metherell, a works services manager based in Whitehaven, said: “Retail is one of the main growth areas with Marks & Spencer Simply Food and Primark opening in Carlisle.

“We are working with partners such as Rathbone, Inspira and the further education colleges to upskill our clients – providing customer-service courses for example – so that they are in a better position when vacancies occur.”

She said there were plenty of opportunities in tourism – although many of the vacancies are in areas of the county where unemployment is already low – and in the care sector.

Nationally, the quarterly rolling total, which unlike the Cumbrian figures include job hunters not eligible for benefits, jumped by 21,000 to 1.7m, the first rise since last summer.

And the seasonally-adjusted claimant count increased by 6,700 in March to 732,100, the first monthly rise since last August. Average earnings increased by 1.8 per cent in the year to February.