THE number of people out of work and claiming benefit rose for the second month.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that the count rose by 900 to 836,700 in October.

But the jobless tally in Huddersfield fell by 123 to 1,573, while the number of unemployed in Colne Valley was down by 50 to 993.

The total for Dewsbury fell by just two to 871.

The UK unemployment rate for the three months to September was 4.6% - the lowest rate since 1984 and down 0.2% on the previous three months.

The number of jobs in manufacturing continued to fall during the three months to September, dropping 2.4% (83,000) compared with the same period last year.

The number of manufacturing jobs is now at its lowest since 1978.

The figures showed that the number of vacancies averaged 640,000 a month during the three months to October - down 9,900 from the previous quarter but 52,300 up on the same period in 2003.

A spokesman said it was the first quarterly fall in vacancies since August last year.