The rapid rise in unemployment was confirmed with the publication of figures that show the total to be the highest for 11 years. The number of people out of work in the UK in the three months to September jumped by 140,000 to 1.82 million - the highest in 11 years. The unemployment rate rose to 5.8%, up from 5.4% in the previous quarter, according to official figures. The number of people claiming the Jobseeker's Allowance rose by 36,500 to 980,900 in October - the highest monthly increase since 1992. Many economists believe that the number out of work will rise to 2 million by Christmas. (Link to BBC News)"The last recession in the early 1990s saw 31 consecutive monthly rises in unemployment so we are likely to have plenty more bad news on the labour market to come," said James Knightley, economist at ING Financial Markets. "We suspect (the claimant count) will push towards 2.5 million in 2010. The LFS measure of unemployment currently stands at 1.85 million and this is likely to push above 3 million over the same time period." (The Guardian)
“The dole queue is now growing by a 1,000 people a day – each one a human tragedy of wasted potential,” TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said. “And the signs are that redundancies are coming even faster since these figures were collected. Countering unemployment must be public policy priority number one.” (FT)
The BBC News site contains a section looking at how some individuals are coping with unemployment. (Link)
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