THE NUMBER of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance in East Lancashire has increased by more than 1,000 in a month.

Latest government figures for December show 11,736 looking for work, up from 10,628 in November.

Nationally, total unemployment - including those not eligible for benefits - was 1.92million between September and November..

In Blackburn with Darwen, the number of people looking for work rose by 231 to 3,252, and in Burnley by 186 to 1,937.

Hyndburn went up from 1,410 to 1,588, Pendle from 1,510 to 1,647, Ribble Valley from 364 to 407 and Rossendale 1,110 to 1,272.

This week business leaders told the Lancashire Telegraph there could be as many as 5,000 job losses across East Lancashire this year.

And employment minister Tony McNulty visited a job centre in Blackburn, where he claimed the government was putting in place measures to protect people from the recession.

He said the government’s latest multimillion pound bailout of the banks would help support businesses and pointed to schemes to encourage employers to take on the long-term unemployed.

Tory Coun Alan Cottam, executive member for regeneration, who accompanied the minister on a tour around Blackburn, said: “The country is at a very low ebb, and things can only get better.”

The government says there are still 500,000 vacancies across the country.

Speaking during Prime Minister’s Questions today, Gordon Brown said: “We may not be able to help people keep their existing job, but we will help people get into a new job.”