The number of jobless claims in the Harrogate district soared by around 150% at the start of the coronavirus lockdown.

ONS data shows that on March 12 there were 1,010 claims in Harrogate and Knaresborough and that increased to 2,570 by April 9. Ripon and Skipton saw a similar rise from 745 claims to 1,935.

In the UK, the claims rose at a record month-on-month rate by 69.1% to 2.1 million from March 12 to April 9, 2020.

That’s according to new data from the Office for National Statistics, which can be found here.

Both the Harrogate and Knaresborough as well as the Skipton and Ripon constituencies saw a much higher rise of 150% in claims than the UK average.

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP, Andrew Jones, warned on his website that the unemployment figures could rise as more data becomes available.

“It would be wrong to view these figures as a one-month phenomenon. As the effect of lockdown continues to run through our local economy, as furloughing ends and as lockdown eases we are likely to see more shocks in the unemployment figures.”

It comes as the number of people using Harrogate’s food bank more than doubled when the coronavirus lockdown was introduced.