UNEMPLOYMENT has risen in Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire over the past year, latest figures show.

The number of out-of-work benefit claimants in each area has gone up – bucking a national trend which saw the jobless rate fall to a 25-year low.

There were 3,055 benefit claimants in Renfrewshire last month, which represents an increase of 190 on the same period in 2016.

Office of National Statistics (ONS) data also shows there were 650 claims made in East Renfrewshire last month – 10 more than the previous year.

However, East Renfrewshire still enjoys one of the lowest claimant count rates anywhere in the UK, at just 1.5 per cent of the working age population.

This compares favourably to the 2.5 per cent national figure.

In Scotland as a whole, unemployment has been falling in recent months, with the claimant count rate standing at 3.8 per cent in the period from March to May – down from 4.5 per cent in the previous quarter.

Over those three months, unemployment fell by 19,000 to 104,000, while the number of people in work increased by 25,000.

The ONS has confirmed that Scotland has now recorded its lowest claimant count rate since comparable records began in 1992.

Reacting to the latest figures, East Renfrewshire’s new MP Paul Masterton said: “It is unsurprising to see such an impressively low level of out-of-work benefit claimants here in East Renfrewshire, yet we cannot rest on our laurels.

“These figures undoubtedly hide the real anxiety and worry for those filling out hundreds of job applications in search of that position that will get them back into work.

“The UK Government is continuing to support the local economy with investment through the City Deal and it is now time – having lost a third of their vote – for the SNP-led Scottish Government to focus on helping East Renfrewshire’s workers, not so called independence.”