YEAR on year there has been a significant rise in unemployment figures for Wychavon, which includes Evesham.

And there has also been an increase in the district’s 18 to 24 year-olds out of work.

Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which includes Job Seeker’s Allowance and Universal Credit with searching for work as a condition, were released earlier this week, and has also shown an increase elsewhere in the county.

In Wychavon, the figure has risen six per cent to 1,371 overall, while there’s an increase of seven per cent to 203 among the district’s 18 to 24 year-olds.

These are the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), it captures the number of people claiming Job Seeker’s Allowance, Universal Credit with searching for work as a condition, Housing Benefit or Child Tax Credit.

Councillor Charles Tucker, representing Pershore ward said: "This may reflect the uncertainty that has been generated by Brexit. We know that it is causing unemployment because of the uncertainty and the number of businesses going out of business. The other aspect is the gap in Wychavon between the haves and the have-nots and the poor social mobility in Wychavon.

There were statistics in a league table from the National Social Mobility Commission in 2017 that put Wychavon 310 out of 324 councils in the country for social mobility.

With regards to the increase in the younger age group, they are very much our future and the poor social mobility particularly has an impact on them."