August's 2,465 is the highest since 2021 and matches August 2024. Under-25s are 50 of the 90-person annual rise, and only Watford ranks higher in Hertfordshire.

2,465 people in Hertsmere were claiming benefits principally for being unemployed in August 2026. That is 60 more than in July and 90 more than a year earlier, and it is the highest the borough has recorded in two years.

Go back further and the figure has only been beaten once since the pandemic. It matches August 2024 exactly. The last month in which more Hertsmere residents were claiming was September 2021, when the count stood at 2,575.

The figures were released by the Office for National Statistics on 15 September 2026 and cover the whole borough, so they take in Borehamwood, Bushey, Potters Bar, Radlett and the villages together.

What the number is, and is not

This is not the unemployment rate, and it is worth being clear about that before anyone quotes it as one.

The ONS says in its own quality report that the claimant count “does not attempt to measure unemployment, which is a concept defined by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) as all those who are out of work, actively seeking work and available to start work”. What it does measure is “the number of people claiming benefits principally for the reason of being unemployed, based on administrative data from the benefits system”.

The practical difference matters locally. Since Universal Credit, the count includes claimants who are in work but on low earnings and still required to look for more. A rise can therefore mean more people out of work, more people in insecure or part-time jobs, or both.

The rise is concentrated in the under-25s

Split by age, the annual change is not spread evenly.

Age group August 2025 August 2026 Change
16 to 24 350 400 up 50
25 to 49 1,390 1,435 up 45
50 and over 640 630 down 10

Young people are now 400 of the 2,465, about one claimant in six, and their number has risen by about 14 per cent in a year while the over-50s have edged down. The figures are rounded to the nearest five, so the age bands do not always sum exactly to the published total.

Only Watford is higher in Hertfordshire

As a share of residents aged 16 to 64, Hertsmere’s rate is 3.6 per cent, up from 3.5 per cent in July. That is above the Hertfordshire average of 3.0 per cent and below the United Kingdom figure of 3.9 per cent.

Against the county’s other districts, only one is higher.

Claimant count rate in the ten Hertfordshire districts, August 2026 Bar chart of the claimant count as a percentage of residents aged 16 to 64 in the ten Hertfordshire districts, August 2026. Watford 4.6 per cent, Hertsmere 3.6, Stevenage 3.6, Broxbourne 3.3, Dacorum 3.2, Welwyn Hatfield 3.2, Three Rivers 2.7, North Hertfordshire 2.4, St Albans 2.4, East Hertfordshire 2.0. The Hertfordshire average is 3.0 per cent and the United Kingdom is 3.9 per cent. Only Watford has a higher rate than Hertsmere Claimants as a share of residents aged 16 to 64, August 2026. Hertsmere is level with Stevenage. Herts 3.0% UK 3.9% Watford 4.6% Hertsmere 3.6% Stevenage 3.6% Broxbourne 3.3% Dacorum 3.2% Welwyn Hatfield 3.2% Three Rivers 2.7% North Hertfordshire 2.4% St Albans 2.4% East Hertfordshire 2.0% The claimant count is not the unemployment rate. It counts people claiming benefits principally for being unemployed, including Universal Credit claimants in work on low earnings who are still required to look for more. Source: ONS claimant count via nomis, table NM_162_1, released 15 September 2026. Graphic by The Borehamwood Post
Hertsmere is level with Stevenage on 3.6 per cent. East Hertfordshire, on 2.0 per cent, has close to half Hertsmere's rate.

The gap inside the county is wide. Watford, immediately west of Bushey, records 4.6 per cent. East Hertfordshire records 2.0 per cent. Hertsmere sits nearer the top of that range than the middle, which is not where the borough’s house prices or its reputation would place it.

The two-year picture

The count has not simply climbed. It fell to 2,275 in January 2025, the lowest point in the last two years, then settled in a band between about 2,300 and 2,400 for most of 2025 and the first half of 2026. The move since spring is what makes August notable:

  • April 2026: 2,385
  • May 2026: 2,395
  • June 2026: 2,385
  • July 2026: 2,405
  • August 2026: 2,465

The single-month jump of 60 is the largest in the two-year series.

One caution on reading last month’s number. The ONS says the Universal Credit element of the count “allows for revisions to the data for one previous month”, so the July figure of 2,405 may yet move when the September data is published. That release is due in October.

What it means for you

If you are out of work or on low earnings in Borehamwood, Bushey, Potters Bar or Radlett, the practical routes are the same whatever the number does:

  • Jobcentre Plus support and Universal Credit are handled by the Department for Work and Pensions, not by Hertsmere Borough Council.
  • Council tax support is a Hertsmere scheme, and a drop in income can change what you owe. Our council tax bands page sets out what each band costs before any discount.
  • Housing and homelessness advice also sits with the borough council.

For everyone else, the figure is worth watching for one specific reason. Hertsmere is spending heavily on community infrastructure at the moment, including £3.5 million of developer money on rebuilding Aycliffe Pavilion in one of the borough’s more deprived areas, a case the council’s own report rests partly on deprivation. The claimant count is one of the few monthly measures that shows whether that picture is improving.

Sources