Despite a rise in the number of people claiming unemployment benefits in December, the future for Pembrokeshire’s job seekers could be looking brighter.

The latest jobless figures show that 2,523 people are unemployed and claiming job seekers’ allowance.

Pembrokeshire’s unemployment rate of 3.8% remains below the Welsh average of 4.3% and the UK’s 4.1%.

Pembrokeshire County Council said the increase in unemployed people over recent months was not as high as is usually seen and there would normally be a slight increase in December.

Preseli Pembrokeshire MP Stephen Crabb said he was disappointed the national fall in unemployment was not mirrored here.

He added: “Everyone is hoping the economy has turned a corner, but the evidence does not support that locally.

“I know local Job Centre Plus staff are working incredibly hard to move people off the unemployment list, but we need to see a real and lasting economic recovery across the country to ensure the jobless figures start falling on a consistent basis.”

The deputy leader of Pembrokeshire County Council and cabinet member for economic development and regeneration, Councillor John Allen-Mirehouse, said while he was saddened to see that so many people were out of work at Christmas, he was heartened the county still had the seventh lowest rate of unemployment in Wales.

He added: “The efforts and hard work the county council has ploughed into improving the economy of Pembrokeshire appears to be paying off.

“Not so many years ago, Pembrokeshire had one of the highest rates of unemployment in Wales and indeed in the UK. We now have far more people in work and there is evidence that average wages have increased and are approaching the Welsh average.

“With work now well underway on Wetherspoons and Marks and Spencer in Haverfordwest and the new power station near Pembroke, we will see more jobs being created as the year progresses.”