Chester Area Claimant Count Hits 6,020, Two-Year High

6,020 people across Cheshire West and Chester were claiming unemployment-related benefits in August. That is 275 more than in July, and the highest monthly figure recorded in the borough since September 2024.

The figures were published on 15 September by the Office for National Statistics and are available through Nomis. They cover the whole borough, from Chester and Ellesmere Port to Northwich, Winsford, Neston and Frodsham.

The claimant rate is 2.6 per cent of residents aged 16 to 64. That is still low by regional standards. The North West average is 4.2 per cent and the UK figure is 3.9 per cent.

The summer rise is much bigger than usual

Claimant numbers normally tick up in late summer as school and college leavers enter the labour market. This year the rise is several times the recent pattern.

• July to August 2024: up 25
• July to August 2025: up 40
• July to August 2026: up 275

In percentage terms the borough’s count rose 4.8 per cent in a month. Across the North West the rise was 2.5 per cent, and across the UK 2.3 per cent. So the local increase was about twice the national one.

Compared with August last year, when 5,695 people were claiming, the count is up 325, or 5.7 per cent.

Where the rise falls

Nomis breaks the count into three age bands. Figures are rounded to the nearest five, so they do not always sum exactly to the total.

Two things stand out. The monthly jump is concentrated in the two younger bands, which is what a school-leaver effect looks like. Over the full year, though, the biggest increase is among people aged 50 and over, up 135 since August 2025 while the under-25s are up 95.

Under-25s now make up a little over one claimant in five.

Still fourth lowest in the North West

Of the 24 local authorities in the North West, only three have a lower claimant rate than Cheshire West and Chester:

• Westmorland and Furness, 1.8 per cent
• Cheshire East, 2.4 per cent
• Cumberland, 2.5 per cent

At the other end, Oldham is on 6.5 per cent and Manchester and Rochdale on 6.0 per cent. The borough’s 2.6 per cent means about one working-age resident in 38 is claiming, against roughly one in 24 across the North West.

It is not the unemployment rate

This number is often reported as unemployment. It is not, and the ONS is explicit about it.

The claimant count “does not attempt to measure unemployment, which is a concept defined by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) as all those who are out of work, actively seeking work and available to start work”, according to the ONS quality and methodology information. It is instead “a measure of the number of people claiming benefits principally for the reason of being unemployed, based on administrative data from the benefits system”.

Since Universal Credit, that includes people who are working but on low earnings and still required to look for more. It is nonetheless the only jobs figure published every month at council level, which makes it the best regular signal of how the local labour market is moving.

One number in our last report has changed

The figures are revised. When we reported the June count in August, the published figure for June 2026 was 5,920. Nomis now gives June as 5,815, a downward revision of 105. April and May are unchanged.

That matters for how much weight to put on a single month. The August figure may itself move when the September release appears next month.

What it means for you

If your work has stopped or your hours have been cut:

• Universal Credit is the main route into support and is claimed online. It can top up low earnings as well as replace lost ones.
• Council Tax Reduction cuts the bill rather than paying cash, and is applied for through Cheshire West and Chester Council. Our Chester council tax bands page sets out what each band costs.
• New Style Jobseeker’s Allowance is based on National Insurance contributions and can be claimed alongside Universal Credit.

On the jobs side, the borough’s largest current investment proposal illustrates why a big number does not always mean a big payroll. Encirc’s £98 million automated warehouse at Elton, lodged this month, is forecast by the applicant to create 16 extra permanent jobs.

A steady labour market also underpins the property market, which our Chester house prices page tracks.

Sources: ONS claimant count, published via Nomis, dataset NM_162_1, last updated 15 September 2026 and retrieved 19 September 2026: monthly counts and rates for Cheshire West and Chester (E06000050), the North West and the United Kingdom, the age breakdown, and the rates for all 24 North West local authorities. ONS claimant count quality and methodology information.