The number of people claiming Jobseekers' Allowance in Leicestershire rose by 735 last month, figures revealed today.
The combined claimant count for the city and county increased by 3 per cent to 21,935 between December and January.
In the city, the figure went up 320 to 12,475, while in the county it rose by 415 to 9,470.
Max Boden, policy manager at Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce, blamed the impact of temporary seasonal shop, bar and hotel jobs coming to an end.
"We take the view this is a shake out of seasonal jobs," he said.
Mr Boden said the 150 redundancies in Leicestershire last month after the closure of Leicester camera chain Jessops would not be included in the figures. However, he said some of the 100 jobs lost when building firm Hallam Contracts, of Oadby, collapsed in November would be.
