The latest unemployment figures from the government show that the number of jobless has risen.

The labour market report for Decemebr shows that there were 16 more people on the unemployment register in December than in November.

There are 335 people on the register. That breaks down to 230 men and 105 women.

During the month, 93 people signed on to the register, while 77 left it.

But the long-term change is more positive.

In December 2016 there were 559 people on the register, while in Decemebr 2014 it was 1,182. The 2017 figure is the lowest since 2003, when it stood at 263.

The statistics don’t tell the whole story as they do not take account of the rising number of people who have retired or any population decline, which would distort the figures.

The number of vacancies notified to the Job Centre in December was 391 and 274 were unfilled at the end of the month.

The figures point to a skills gap. While there are 41 people with a background in construction out of work, there are 35 vacancies in education, 29 in health and 38 in e-gaming.

The government calculates the unemployment rate to be 0.8%, while using the criteria set by the International Labour Organisation it’s 1.8%.

The latest published UK unemployment rate was 4.3%.