The Guardian has the latest unemployment figures, broken down for each constituency.
In Rayleigh and Wickford the situation is pretty reasonable. Only 1.9 percent of people are claiming benefit , and the number is going down.
But in Rochford and Southend East the figure has risen to 5.7 percent, and is going up.
The average for England is 3.7 percent.
Julian Ware-Lane has more data for Essex here.
J W-L’s analysis is slightly awry.
“Southend-on-Sea has its claimant numbers outstripping the rest of Essex. Getting a job here is harder than in the rest of the county, and tougher than in much of the rest of the country. Is this the legacy of a town, county and country run by Conservatives?”
Apparently not – given that Southend’s next-door neighbours Rayleigh & Wickford are also run by Tories at every level.
You could always comment on Julians blog and he might respond.