Thread: Unemployment continues to rise back in the UK

Unemployment continues to rise back in the UK, with the figure increasing by 44,000 to almost 2.5 million in the three months to the end of December, the Office for National Statistics has reported.

Youth unemployment rose to a fresh record high, with more than one in five 16 to 24-year-olds out of work after a rise of 66,000 to 965,000.

The unemployment rate is now 7.9%, with youth unemployment running at 20.5%.

The number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance also increased, by 2,400 last month to 1.46 million.

The number of people in part-time work because they could not find a full-time job rose by 44,000 to 1.19 million, another high since records began in 1992.

"Long-term unemployment also deteriorated, with 17,000 more people out of work for more than a year, to a total of 833,000.

Other data from the ONS showed that average earnings rose by 1.8% in the year to December last year, slightly down on the 2.1% growth in the year to November.

There were 40,000 more job vacancies in the three months to January than in the previous three months. This is often seen as an indicator of the health of the economy and whether companies are creating jobs.

But the ONS said that most of these new vacancies were temporary jobs, working on the 2011 Census. Excluding this, there were 8,000 more vacancies.

Shadow work and pensions secretary Liam Byrne said "There are still five people chasing every single job and in about a hundred constituencies, 10 people are chasing every job."

Most analysts still expect unemployment to rise in the coming months, largely because of public sector spending cuts implemented by the government, which are designed to bring down the UK's budget deficit.

Economists suggest the economy would have to grow at an annual rate of about 2% for unemployment to fall.

In the final three months of last year, the economy shrank by 0.5%, and although many analysts expect a return to growth in the current quarter, few expect GDP to top 2% this year.

UK down the pan

Things are desperate here in the uk, but Cameron will sort it out. lol

Fortunately things are looking up and the consensus seems to be that most indicators are moving in the right direction.

No sign of any recovery in the uk i live in, maybe in a year or two, fingers crossed because i need the exchange rate to go up, so we can emigrate to the land of plenty............ Australia.

once again Jim, you see what you want to see.
UK Recovery Watch

I think there are differing views, I have heard nothing but hardship from family and friends back in the UK, I also know of families who have returned from Oz to the UK and not been able to find work and have ended up coming back here. I suppose it all depends on what line of work you are in and where you live.

We speak to friends in the UK regularly and none are experiencing anything drastic as far as their lifestyle or day to day life in general. That isn't to say it is rosey but really do we want this forum to go the same way as elsewhere and just get the same thing being repeated over and over ?

I think its the north south divide situation, the job situation is really grim up north, but in a few areas darn sarth its better, but not great, hopefully it will pick up next year.

Jim, can I ask why you think you are broken ?