THE number of people claiming Universal Credit has gone up again in all but one borough across Greater Manchester.

This number has been steadily rising throughout the pandemic.

While the rate of increase has slowed down – huge rises in claimant numbers were seen in the early months of the first lockdown in 2020 – a lot of new people are still signing on, with almost 2,500 new claimants seen across the city region in just one month.

The only borough not to see an increase in claimant numbers is Stockport, which saw its numbers fall slightly.

Between June and July, the number of claimants across Greater Manchester’s boroughs rose by the following amounts.

In Bolton, the number of claimants rose from 32,340 to 32,665.

For Bury, it went from 17,920 to 18,082.

Manchester saw the highest number of new claimants across the city region with 602 people signing up between June and July. Overall, those claiming the all-in-one benefit rose from 78,508 to 79,110.

In Oldham saw the second highest number of new claimants, their figure rose from 33,890 to 34,223 with 333 new people signing on to Universal Credit.

The number of people claiming in Rochdale went from 27,464 to 27,765.

In Salford, it went from 32,076 to 32,317.

Stockport saw a decrease from 21,623 claimants to 21,598.

In Tameside, the number of people claiming in June stood at 26,526 – by July that had risen to 26,621.

Trafford saw the smallest increase, but an increase just the same, from 26,282 claiming in June to 26,477 a month later.

For Wigan, the number of people claiming Universal Credit rose from 31,655 to 31,857.

While the number of claimants has risen in nine of the ten boroughs, it’s not necessarily an indication of unemployment levels – most claimants are currently employed and use Universal Credit to ‘top up’ their income.

Minister for Employment Mims Davies MP said: “There are positive signs of recovery in today’s jobs figures with the number of young people and older workers on payrolls up on the quarter and the employment rate increasing to 75.1 per cent.

“There is still work to do and we’re focused on helping employers fill roles through our Plan for Jobs – giving people of all ages the skills, support and experience needed to confidently land that next opportunity.”

Minister for Welfare Delivery Will Quince said: “Universal Credit continues to support people across the country. We’ve hired 13,500 new work coaches to offer claimants individual tailored support, and our Plan for Jobs is helping them into the sectors that are recruiting.

“Anyone who thinks they may be eligible to benefit should head to the Understanding Universal Credit website to find out more.”

Across the UK, the number of people claiming in May 2021 was 2.33 million – 11 per cent less than in May 2020.

According to the Department for Work and Pensions, new claims numbers are returning to pre-Covid levels - the average monthly number of new sign ons during the financial year ending 2020 was around 200,000 compared to 215,000 in May 2021.