Unemployment in Oxfordshire rose last month from 4,831 to 5,188, against the national trend.

It is the second consecutive rise in the jobless total, but the county's unemployment rate - up from 1.5 per cent to 1.6 per cent - is still well below the national average of 4.6 per cent.

The rise was most marked in the Oxford travel-to-work area, where the rate increased to 1.7 per cent.

In the UK as a whole the monthly claimant count in January was down by 5,700 to 1,305,300 - the lowest figures since 1980.

City analysts expected unemployment to start rising because of the economic downturn, but the number of people in full and part-time jobs grew to 27.3 million in the last quarter of last year, the highest total since records began in 1973.

The employment rate was 73.8 per cent, up by 0.2 per cent from the three months to September and the best figure for almost a decade.

The Office for National Statistics said economic activity in the labour market continued to improve, reflecting a "strong rise" in employment.

Notifications of new vacancies at jobcentres continue at historically high levels, up by 9,300 between December and January to 229,900, although the stock of jobs fell by 2,200 to stand at 306,800.

But the number of jobs in manufacturing companies fell by 85,000 in the same period, to just over four million, offset by a big increase in service sector employment.

Manufacturing output per head for the last quarter of 1998 was 1.2 per cent higher than the previous year.

Story date: Wednesday 17 February

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