THE NUMBER of people claiming jobless benefits in the North climbed to 55,900 last month, according to latest Government statistics.

Northern Ireland was the only region in the UK to record an increase in the number of people claiming unemployment payments. The statistics suggest that Derry, Limavady and Strabane have the highest percentage of people such benefits.

Figures show that overall, the UK reported another fall in claimants with the total dropping to 1.54 million in March.

Although the number claiming unemployment help in the North rose last month, new labour market figures also show there was a fall in the unemployment rate in Northern Ireland in the three months to February.

The fall brought the unemployment rate down to 6.4 per cent while the number of people out of work fell by 1,000 to an estimated 53,000. This was in contrast to the rest of the UK where unemployment over the same period hit a 16-year high of 2.5 million people.