UNEMPLOYMENT rose in Huddersfield last month - bucking the national trend.
Official figures showed that the UK claimant count fell by 5,500 to 953,100 in December, the lowest monthly total since March last year.
The Office of National Statistics also said the jobless total fell by 29,000 to 1.67m in the three months to November.
The number of people in work rose by 14,000 in the quarter to 29m, the highest figure since 1971.
The claimant count in Huddersfield rose by 36 to 2,081 in December.
The Colne Valley total was up by 32 to 1,254 and the figure for Dewsbury was 39 higher at 1,282.
The national picture was marred by a big rise in the number of people classed as economically inactive.
These included people taking early retirement, on sick leave, students, people looking after a relative or who had given up looking for a job.
The total increased by 74,000 over the quarter to 7.85m - more than a fifth of all people of working age in the UK and the highest total since the quarter to May, 2005.
More than 68,000 manufacturing jobs were lost during the quarter, to take the total to an all-time low of 3m.
