Critics of the policy have questioned the Chancellor’s premise that living on benefits had become a “lifestyle choice” for many, arguing that there are less vacancies in the economy then there are people claiming unemployment benefits.

However the exact numbers sparked something of statistical spat this morning.

The Claim

Discussing the subject on Radio 4's Today programme, Conservative MP Michael Fallon disagreed with a spokesperson for the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) over the number of job vacancies available in the economy and the number of people claiming unemployment benefits.

Teresa Perchard of the CAB claimed that data from Job Centre Plus showed 300,000 vacancies, compared to 1.5 million claimants of Jobseekers' allowance.

Mr Fallon took issue with the figures arguing that while there were more people claiming benefits than Ms Perchard suggested, there were also more vacancies in the economy.

According to him there are instead 480,000 vacancies, with “over 2.5 million” on unemployment benefits.

Given that both statistics are readily verifiable, Full Fact stepped in to adjudicate. Which of them, if either, is correct?

Analysis

According to the latest labour market statistics released in August by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), between April and June there were an estimated 481,000 vacancies in the job market.

Full Fact has been unable to determine how the CAB representative arrived at her estimate of 300,000 vacancies. The Government’s Jobseekers website estimates that its search database includes roughly 400,000 jobs, but does not claim that this is an accurate figure. So Mr Fallon’s figure on this count seems closer to the mark.

But according to the same ONS data, the number of people on unemployment benefits was 1.461 million, close to Ms Perchard's figure and a long way from Mr Fallon's.

However the MP for Sevenoaks, unlike Ms Perchard, did not specify that his figures for unemployment benefits referred only to Jobseekers' Allowance. Unemployment allowances could, for instance, be interpreted so as to include the UK's 2.6 million claimants of incapacity benefits.

Conclusion

Uncontentious data exists to suggest that around 480,000 job vacancies exist in an economy in which 1.46 million people claim Jobseekers Allowance. This correlates with the higher figure for vacancies and the lower one for claimants.

Strangely, Mr Fallon and Ms Perchard each cited a similar gap between vacancies and welfare claimants, but to support directly opposing arguments about Mr Osborne's recent announcement.

Clarifying the statistics debated on the Today programme is simple enough, but does not fundamentally impact upon the arguments put forward by either side.

The figures alone will never demonstrate whether unemployment is a “lifestyle choice” or whether, as Labour's John McDonnell put it to Mr Fallon, “the bulk of people who are unemployed are desperately seeking work.”