Sefton Claimant Count July 2026: 6,295, Under-25s Rise

Sefton’s claimant count was 6,295 in July 2026, up 95 on the same month last year. That is 3.7 per cent of residents aged 16 to 64 (nomis, ONS Claimant Count).

The headline barely moved. What sits underneath it did.

The whole of that annual increase, and more, came from the youngest and the oldest claimants. The 25 to 49 group, still much the largest, fell for the second year running.

The age split, July by July

These are the three age bands the ONS publishes for the borough, at each July:

The three bands add exactly to the borough total in each of those months.

Over two years the divergence is sharper. Under-25s are up 170, or 14.5 per cent. The 25 to 49 group is down 615, or 14.9 per cent. One group rising while a much bigger group falls is precisely why the headline number looks still.

Under-25s: the highest July since 2021

The under-25 figure is the one that has changed direction. Here is every July since 2016:

The pandemic peak was July 2020, at 2,405. The count then fell back for two years and bottomed out in July 2022. It has risen in each of the four Julys since.

At 1,340 it is now the highest July figure since 2021, and higher than any July between 2014 and 2019. The July 2014 figure was 1,265.

One caution on the long view. Universal Credit was rolled out across this period, and it brings people into the count who would not have been counted under the older Jobseeker’s Allowance rules. Comparisons stretching back before the rollout are not strictly like for like.

Sefton is rising more slowly than the region

The under-25 increase is not a local phenomenon. It is happening across the country, and Sefton’s version of it is milder than most:

• Sefton: 1,255 to 1,340, up 6.8 per cent
• North West: 38,720 to 42,610, up 10.0 per cent
• Great Britain: 297,205 to 326,595, up 9.9 per cent

The same holds for the overall rate. In July, 3.7 per cent of Sefton residents aged 16 to 64 were claiming, against 4.1 per cent across the North West and 3.9 per cent across Great Britain. Sefton sits below both, and has done throughout the past year.

Which Southport wards

The ONS also publishes the count by ward, and this is where the borough average stops being useful. These are the seven Sefton wards that cover Southport, for July 2026:

Two things stand out.

Duke’s has the largest total and one of the smallest youth counts. It covers the town centre and the seafront, and its 390 claimants include only 40 under-25s, around one in ten.

Kew is the opposite. It has 85 fewer claimants than Duke’s, but twice as many of them are under 25. At 80 out of 305, more than a quarter of Kew’s claimants are in that age group, the highest share of any Southport ward.

For comparison, the two Formby wards are Harington at 80 claimants, 15 of them under 25, and Ravenmeols at 140, with 30. The highest count anywhere in the borough is Linacre in Bootle, at 795, including 170 under-25s.

The 22 ward totals add exactly to the borough figure of 6,295 this month. The under-25 ward figures add to 1,330 against a borough figure of 1,340, a gap created by rounding rather than an error.

What these figures are, and are not

Four things worth holding on to before anyone calls this an unemployment rate:

• It is not the unemployment rate. The claimant count records people claiming benefits principally for being unemployed. The official unemployment measure comes from a survey and is a different number.
• It includes some people who are working. Universal Credit claimants on low earnings who are required to look for more or better-paid work are counted.
• It is not seasonally adjusted. July always carries school and college leavers, which is why every comparison here is July against July.
• Everything is rounded to the nearest five. Small ward movements should not be read as precise.

What it means for you

If you are out of work in Sefton, the council runs a free employment service, Sefton@Work, which has operated since 2003 and offers advice sessions in person and online for residents looking for work and for employers recruiting. It can be reached on 0151 934 2610 or at seftonatwork.info@sefton.gov.uk (Sefton Council).

If you employ people in Southport, the number to watch is the youth line rather than the total. The pool of local under-25s looking for work has grown by 170 in two years, while the 25 to 49 pool has shrunk by 615. That is a different recruitment market from the one the headline suggests, and it is more pronounced in Kew than anywhere else in the town.

The next release covering August is due from the ONS in September. We will update these ward figures when it lands.

For the wider picture on the local economy, our Southport house prices page tracks the Land Registry figures for the borough each month.