UK jobless total climbs to 2.4m

12 August 2009

The number of people out of work in the UK has risen to its highest level since 1995, official figures have shown.
Unemployment increased by 220,000 to 2,435,000 in the three months to June, taking the jobless rate to 7.8%.
Claims for unemployment benefit grew to its worst level in 12 years, increasing by 24,900 from June to 1.58 million.
Average earnings, excluding bonuses, grew at their slowest rate since records began in 2001, the Office for National Statistics said.

Earnings rose at an annual rate of 2.5% in the three months to June - though those in manufacturing only averaged pay increases of 1.1%, while the public sector saw an average rise of 3.7%.
The figures come as the Bank of England's latest quarterly inflation report warned that the UK economy still had some way to go before it recovered from the effects of the financial crisis.
The British Chambers of Commerce warned that unemployment was likely to continue rising at a rapid pace, even if the economy started growing again, and could exceed three million.
And the Institute of Directors said that almost a million people were working part-time because they could not find a full-time job, meaning the impact of the recession on employment was "even greater than the headline figures suggest".
source: bbc.com

Posted by News Point at 4:23 AM  
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