The number of people on social assistance in Hastings County, including in Belleville and Quinte West, has increased slightly since the year began.
In January, 2,847 people were collecting welfare, but last month, there were 2,925.
However, that number was over 7% lower than it was in March of last year, when welfare recipients totalled 3,159.
When you include dependents, almost 5,000 people in Hastings County, or 3.7% of the population, relied on social assistance for support.
