1,225 people in Brentwood claimed in September, up 1.2% in a year, the smallest rise of Essex's 12 districts. The over-50s went up 12.5% and the 25 to 49s fell.
1,225 people in Brentwood borough were claiming unemployment-related benefits in September, the latest month in the ONS claimant count. That is 2.5 per cent of residents aged 16 to 64.
The total is up 15 on September last year, a rise of 1.2 per cent. That is the smallest rise of any of Essex’s twelve districts. Across Essex County Council’s area the count rose 6.3 per cent over the same year, and across England it rose 2.6 per cent.
Under that flat total, the age groups are moving in opposite directions.
Who is claiming
Year on year, September 2025 to September 2026:
- Aged 50 and over: up 12.5 per cent, from 280 to 315
- Aged 18 to 24: up 7.7 per cent, from 195 to 210
- Aged 25 to 49: down 6.1 per cent, from 740 to 695
The over-50s band has now risen for most of the year. It stood at 280 in September 2025, peaked at 330 in May 2026, eased to 305 in July and is back up to 315. Across England, the same band rose 5.1 per cent over the year, and across Essex 8.2 per cent. Brentwood’s older claimants are still rising faster than both.
The young claimant count is the reverse. 210 people aged 18 to 24 were claiming in September, the highest monthly figure in the two years of data we pulled. It was 150 in September 2024. Even so, the one-year rise of 7.7 per cent is milder than England’s 10.3 per cent and Essex’s 13.0 per cent.
The 25 to 49 band, the biggest of the three, is what keeps the total flat. It fell by 45 people over the year, while England’s barely moved (down 0.8 per cent) and Essex’s rose 3.0 per cent.
How Brentwood compares with the rest of Essex
Every Essex district had more claimants this September than last. Brentwood’s rise was the smallest, ahead of Basildon at 2.1 per cent. Braintree’s was the largest, at 10.2 per cent.
Brentwood’s rate of 2.5 per cent of working-age residents is the third lowest in Essex, after Uttlesford (2.1 per cent) and Rochford (2.3 per cent). The figure for Essex as a whole is 3.1 per cent and for England 4.1 per cent.
A note on August
The ONS has revised the borough’s August figure. When we reported it in September, the published total was 1,220. The series now shows 1,195 for August, with the change in the 25 to 49 band. Claimant count figures are often revised in the months after first publication, so the year-on-year comparison is a safer read than a single month’s move. On today’s figures, the borough rose by 30 between August and September.
What the claimant count measures
This is not the unemployment rate. It counts people on Jobseeker’s Allowance, plus people on Universal Credit who are required to look for work. Someone working part time on a low income can be in it.
Two more cautions:
- Every figure is rounded to the nearest five, so a move of 5 in an age band can be rounding.
- The figures are not seasonally adjusted, so compare September with September rather than one month with the next.
What it means for you
- If you are over 50 and looking for work in the borough, you are in the group that is growing. It has gone up for most of the past year, and faster than in Essex or England.
- If you are 18 to 24, the local count is at its highest in two years, though rising more slowly than elsewhere in Essex.
- The 25 to 49 group is shrinking here while it grows across Essex, which is the main reason Brentwood’s total looks so steady.
Last month’s figures are in our August claimant count story, and the ward-by-ward picture is in our June claimant count story. Borough house prices are tracked on our Brentwood house prices page.
Sources
- ONS claimant count via Nomis, dataset NM_162_1, Brentwood borough (E07000068), all ages and bands 18 to 24, 25 to 49 and 50 and over, September 2024 to September 2026, read 21 October 2026
- Nomis, claimant count and claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16 to 64, Essex’s 12 districts, Essex County Council area, East of England and England, September 2025 and September 2026
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