The recession has taken a vice-like grip of the Sussex economy in recent weeks - and experts warn it will only get worse.

Government figures published yesterday (Wednesday) showed more than 4,000 people in Sussex joined the dole queue in February – a rise of almost 17% on the month before.

A total of 29,861 people in the county claimed Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) last month as unemployment continued to rocket.

West Sussex suffered the largest increase in claimants - up by 18% to 12,926 while East Sussex recorded a 17% rise, to 10,054.

The number of claimants in Brighton and Hove rose by just under 12% to 6,881.

The figures released by UK Statistics Authority do not take into account hundreds of jobs lost since the beginning of the month or hundreds more planned for the end of the year.

Earlier this week, more than 150 jobs were axed at two Sussex businesses hit by the slump in car sales while Norwich Union brought forward plans to make 430 people redundant at its Worthing office by the end of the year.

The dismal data prompted Geoff Rhodes, partner at the Brighton office of business recovery specialist Begbies Traynor, to warn that the next few months will be even more bleak for the economy.

He said: “We are seeing a lot of companies in financial difficulties, far more than we were in the last quarter.

“A lot of these are smaller businesses which will simply stop trading and everyone will lose their jobs. They are not big employers but the cumulative affect could be pretty substantial.”

According to Mr Rhodes the construction sector has been very badly hit which is having a knock-on effect from everyone from property developers estate agents, double glazing companies and painter and decorators.

Other sectors suffering are printing companies, retail and leisure-related businesses such as pubs and nightclubs.

Mr Rhodes said the main problem for these sectors was consumer confidence, adding: “People are not spending because they are not sure if they will have a pay packet next month.

“I have been through a couple of recessions but this one is deeper, will affect more people and go on for longer.”

Nationally, the total number of people out of work, including those not eligible for benefit, jumped by 165,000 in the quarter to January to 2.03 million, the worst figure since Labour came to power in the summer of 1997.

The quarterly rise was the highest since 1991 and some expert now expect unemployment to hit 3.3 million next year.

Across the South East, just over 3% of the population are now claiming JSA.

Employment Minister Tony McNulty told The Argus things would get worse before they got better and warned Sussex would not “escape” the downturn.

But he insisted the economy and the Jobcentre Plus network were “better placed” to handle the recession than they were during the early 1990s, when more than 8% of the South East’s population claimed jobless benefits.

Warning that the number of vacancies available in the economy would fall - and that more of those remaining would be for “low end” jobs, he said: “The notion this is somehow either a London and South East downturn, because of the financial services, or that London and the South East is going to escape, isn’t the case.

“I fear there is no evidence that we have reached the bottom yet. It’s a very bad picture. My job is to make sure there’s as much support available as possible.”

Mark Froud, chief executive at Sussex Enterprise, the county's chamber of commerce, said: “The figures obviously reflect the impact of the deepening recession on businesses across the country.

“[But] alongside the general concerns about the economy I am still hearing plenty of good news stories about individual businesses in Sussex that are expanding and taking on more staff.

“Those firms that have a clear business plan, a desirable product or service and can adapt to a changing environment remain positive about the future.”

East Sussex County Council leader Peter Jones, who has responsibility for economic matters, described the figures as “very worrying”.

He said: “From what I understand we are being hit in two areas. In the north of the county, we have got lots of commuters working in the City who have lost their jobs due to cutbacks in the banking and insurance sector.

“Then on the coast we have seen jobs lost in retail, construction and other small businesses.”