THE total number of people claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance (JSA) in Gwent fell last month compared to the year before, new statistics show.

Figures from the Office of National Statistics show there were 16,606 claimants of JSA in Gwent on May 12, 2011, 128 fewer than May 2010.

While the number of male claimants fell by 884, the number of women claiming rose by 756, with the pattern repeated in every Gwent council area.

Of the Gwent counties, Caerphilly had the largest number of claimants at 5,250.

There were 3,606 men and 1,644 women claiming, down by 395 and up by 151 respectively.

Newport came second with 4,710 claimants – 3,322 men and 1,388 women – with the number of men falling by 58 and the number of women rising by 199.

A total of 2,944 claimants were reported in Blaenau Gwent, with the number of male claimants falling by 213 to 1,965 and the number of women rising by 161 to 979.

In Torfaen there were 2,597 claimants. The number of males claiming fell by 117 to 1,798 but the number of women claimants rose by 186 to 799.

Monmouthshire had 1,105 claimants, with 749 males – a fall of 101 – and 356 females – a rise of 54.

Janet Pinder, associate director and head of research at the Centre for Community & Lifelong Learning at the University of Wales, Newport, said one possible reason behind the figures could be that administrative and support vacancies in the public sector, which women have been traditionally been attracted to, are descreasing as a result of public sector cuts.

She added: “In low-paid jobs it could very well be there’s little difference between the hours of work and claiming benefit, making it not an advantage to work.”

Women may also be finding themselves in greater competition to men in nontraditional roles such as working in call centres, Ms Pinder added.