A MILLION more people claimed jobless benefits without the requirement to look for work last year, official figures show.
The number on Universal Credit who do not have to hunt for a job hit 4.17 million — up from 3.06 million.
It will be a blow to Sir Keir Starmer who had hoped to “get Britain working” by tackling unemployment and reforming welfare.
The development follows an attempt to lop £5billion off the ballooning welfare bill which had to be axed in July last year after a rebellion by backbench Labour MPs.
It undermined the authority of the PM who has warned of Britons being “written off” on welfare and of becoming trapped “in a cycle of worklessness and dependency”.
Joe Shalam, policy director at centre-right think tank the Centre for Social Justice, said: “The welfare system is clearly out of control.
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“Having millions languishing outside the workforce is bad for them and for the economy.
“Getting the nation working again is the first step to repair broken Britain.”
Universal Credit is available to low-income Brits, the jobless and those unable to find work.
The overall total rose from 7.36 million to 8.4 million last year, the Department for Work and Pensions said.
It was the most since 2019 when the number rocketed from 2.73 million to 5.88 million.
The DWP said the jump in the number not required to job hunt was due to people moving off “legacy” benefits — older ones such as Income Support.
A spokesman said: “This transition was inherited from the last government, alongside a system with wrong incentives that writes people off.
“This government is determined to fix this.
“That’s why we’re removing the financial incentives in Universal Credit that encourage inactivity.”
But Shadow Welfare Secretary Helen Whately said: “Welfare must be a safety net not a lifestyle choice.”
JOBS LOST AT FASTEST RATE IN FIVE YEARS
COMPANIES are shedding jobs at the fastest rate for five years, figures show.
The number of people on payrolls fell by 43,000 in December, the largest monthly decline since November 2020.
Retail and hospitality have been hit hardest by National Insurance and minimum wage rises.
According to the Office for National Statistics, 21,000 retail and 9,000 hospitality jobs vanished in December alone.
Estimates show that the number of payrolled workers fell by 184,000 over the course of the year.
Shadow welfare secretary Helen Whately said: “That’s the human cost of Labour’s failures.”