In December 2017 123,039 people were on the Jobseeker benefit and 289,788 people were on any main benefit.
By December 2021 the respective numbers had risen to 187,989 and 368,172 - increases of 53 and 27 percent.
A just released MSD report which monitors the effectiveness of EA (Employment Assistance) interventions contains this graph:
The amount spent on EA interventions has steadily declined since 2016/17. Additionally, the values are not CPI adjusted.
And from the 'key results':
...the total level of expenditure in the effective and promising categories has decreased since the high point of 2013/2014 ($192.3 million). In the last four years the fall in effective expenditure was led by the reduction in spending on Training for Work and Flexi-wage (Basic/Plus)
Less is being spent on employment assistance, and what is being spent is less effective.
