Unemployment … in brief
June 2025
Key findings
- Claimant Count (people seeking work): There were 11,650 unemployed claimants of Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) and Universal Credit (UC – searching for work conditionality) in April 2025 (3.7% of working age people).
- Unemployed UC/JSA claimant numbers increased by 7.5% (810 claimants) in the year from April 2024, but fell by 0.4% (down 50 claimants) in the month to April 2025. The claimant rate in East Sussex (3.7%) remains lower than national (England) figure of 4.2%.
- Universal Credit (people on low incomes): There were 57,569 people claiming any UC in March 2025 (17.7% of people aged 16-65), of whom 46,116 are not included in the Claimant Count above (i.e. not ‘Searching for work’ conditionality).
- The number of UC claimants has seen an annual rise of 16.3% since March 2024. This is an increase of 8,129 claimants.
- Note that the DWP have delayed the release of UC data for April 2025 so the most recent data on UC is available for March 2025.
In East Sussex, overall unemployed claimant numbers have risen by 7.5% over the past year, from 10,840 in April 2024 to 11,650 in April 2025. This compares to England, where the annual increase in claimant numbers was 10.3%.
There were 3.7% of working age people in East Sussex claiming UC/JSA in April 2025, lower than England rate (4.3%), but higher than the South East region (3.2%).
Claimant rates, England, South East, East Sussex and districts, April 2024 and April 2025
Youth unemployment is rising
Youth unemployment saw an increase in the year to April 2025 with the number of UC/JSA claimants aged 18-24 in East Sussex rising from 2,010 in April 2024 to 2,135 in April 2025, an increase of 6.2%. This is significantly lower than the national rise of 10.7% among young claimants over the same period.
6.3% of people aged 18-24 in East Sussex are now claiming UC/JSA (April 2025), with numbers up by 1.2% (25 claimants) in the month since March 2025. The number of young male claimants by rose by 6.4% in the year to April 2025, and young female claimants increased by 6.0% over the year. The claimant rate among young men at 7.6% is still considerably higher than young females (5.2%).
The highest levels of youth claiming are seen in Hastings, where 9.6% of young people are claiming UC/JSA, including 11.8% of young males in April 2025.
Claimant rates by age group, East Sussex April 2022-2025
Number of unemployed claimants of UC/JSA
| April 2024 | April 2025 | Actual change | Annual % change | |
| Eastbourne | 2,670 | 2,905 | 235 | 8.8% |
| Hastings | 2,880 | 2,910 | 30 | 1.0% |
| Lewes | 1,820 | 2,050 | 230 | 12.6% |
| Rother | 1,530 | 1,670 | 140 | 9.2% |
| Wealden | 1,940 | 2,115 | 175 | 9.0% |
| East Sussex | 10,840 | 11,650 | 810 | 7.5% |
| South East | 170,210 | 186,695 | 16,485 | 9.7% |
| England | 1,387,390 | 1,529,600 | 142,210 | 10.3% |
Percentage of working age people claiming UC/JSA because of unemployment
| April 2023 | April 2024 | April 2025 | |
| Eastbourne | 4.6% | 4.4% | 4.8% |
| Hastings | 5.5% | 5.2% | 5.2% |
| Lewes | 3.0% | 3.2% | 3.6% |
| Rother | 3.3% | 3.1% | 3.3% |
| Wealden | 2.0% | 2.1% | 2.3% |
| East Sussex | 3.5% | 3.4% | 3.7% |
| South East | 2.8% | 2.9% | 3.2% |
| England | 3.8% | 3.8% | 4.2% |
Claimant rate by ward in April 2025
Wards
In April 2025, 24 East Sussex wards had rates at or above the England average (4.2%), with the highest rates in Devonshire (8.9%) in Eastbourne, and Central St Leonards (7.8%), Gensing (7.6%) and Castle (7.4%) in Hastings.
This includes 10 wards in Hastings, 6 in Eastbourne, 4 in Lewes, 2 in Rother and 2 in Wealden
26 wards saw an increase in claimant numbers in the month to April 2025, while 36 wards saw a decline.
Claimant rate at ward level in ESiF Data explorer
Districts
Claimant counts rose in Hastings (up 20), Lewes (up 15) and Rother (up 10) in the month to April 2025, but fell in Eastbourne (down 55) and Wealden (down 40).
However, all East Sussex districts also saw claimant numbers increase over the year. The largest percentage increase in claimants since April 2024 was seen in Lewes (up by 230 claimants or 12.6%), and the lowest annual rise was seen in Hastings (up by 30, 1.0%). This compares to a rise in England of 10.3% and in the South East region of 9.7%.
In April 2025 Hastings had the highest claimant rate in the county with 5.2% of working age people claiming UC/JSA because of unemployment. The rate in Eastbourne was also above the national average at 4.8% of the working age population, compared to 4.2% nationally.
Hastings now has the third highest claimant rate in the South East region, behind Slough (6.5%) and Thanet (5.6%). Eastbourne has the fifth highest claimant rate in the region.
Universal Credit Claimants
In East Sussex in March 2025 there were 57,575 people claiming UC (17.7% of working age people). This was an increase of 1,007 since February 2025 (up 1.8%) and up 8,129 (16.4%) since March 2024. In February 2025, 34.8% of all UC claimants were in employment (measured by employment indicator).
Note that the DWP have delayed the release of UC data for April 2025 so the most recent data on UC is available for March 2025.
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.
UC claimant numbers and rates in March 2025
| Number of UC claimants in April 2025 | % of age 16-65 claiming UC in April 2025 | |
| Eastbourne | 13,370 | 21.5% |
| Hastings | 14,687 | 25.8% |
| Lewes | 9,577 | 16.3% |
| Rother | 8,926 | 17.3% |
| Wealden | 11,014 | 11.5% |
| East Sussex | 57,575 | 17.7% |
Change in number of UC claimants
| Change in UC numbers March 2024-25 | Change in UC numbers February 2025-March 2025 | |
| Eastbourne | 1,670 | 247 |
| Hastings | 1,817 | 285 |
| Lewes | 1,650 | 163 |
| Rother | 1,260 | 164 |
| Wealden | 1,734 | 152 |
| East Sussex | 8,129 | 1,007 |
Number of Universal Credit claimants by conditionality time series, March 2022-2025
In the year to March 2025 there was an increase among most conditionality groups except those in the ‘Planning for work’ (down 14.3%) and ‘Preparing for work’ (down 1.2%) groups. The conditionality group seeing the largest rise was the ‘No work requirements’ group, with 6,247 more claimants (up 32.5%). There were also increases in the ‘Working – no requirements’ group (up 10.2% or 996 claimants) and the ‘Working with requirements’ group, with 487 more claimants (up 8.6%).
While the number of male unemployed UC/JSA claimants is higher than the number of female claimants (see dark green: male and dark blue: female lines, labelled ‘Claimant count’, in the chart 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. UC claimant numbers of both sexes continue to rise.
Male and female claimants of Universal Credit and UC/JSA unemployed claimant count, April 2020-April 2025, East Sussex
Further information
The Claimant Count measures the number of people who have made claims for benefits for reasons of unemployment. Most new claimants for benefit receive Universal Credit, but there are some claimants who do not qualify for UC because they have savings of over £16,000, who 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. Some claimants might do some 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, 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.
Links to other useful resources
Contact details
For further information about unemployment, benefits, claimants and other labour market data please contact esif@eastsussex.gov.uk.