UK unemployment at 2.03m

Wednesday, 18 March 2009 10:00

Unemployment in the UK has now risen over two million - the highest level since Labour came to power in 1997.

Data from the Office for National Statistics revealed that UK unemployment has hit 2.03 million - a jobless rate of 6.5 per cent - as the claimant count rose by 138,000.

Analysts expect unemployment to peak at more than three million, by which time one in ten employable Britons would be out of work.

Unemployment has increased by 421,000 over the last year and by 165,000 in the last three months alone.

Theresa May, Conservative shadow work and pensions secretary, said: "This is a grim milestone that no one wanted to reach.

"James Purnell and Labour are sleepwalking their way through this unemployment crisis casting people adrift as they continue to close job centres.

"Gordon Brown's negligent and complacent attitude over the past decade means we have a huge skills gap in the economy. It is extremely worrying that people don't have the necessary skills to fill the current vacancies in the economy. Labour needs to wake up and allow people claiming jobseekers allowance to retrain immediately, instead of having to wait 18 months."

Tony McNulty, minister for employment, said: "These latest figures show the human impact of the global recession. No matter how hard times get, we will not give up on anyone who loses their job and will continue to provide real help to everyone who needs it.

"Even with the fall in labour demand that we are currently experiencing, we need to remember that three quarters of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance leave it within six months, and 250,000 people left the claimant count in February."

He added the government was investing £2 billion in Jobcentre Plus and next month people who have been claiming for six months will be able to access the enhanced package of support which we announced in January.

Firms dealing with insolvencies are now seeing more firms closing than in the recessions of the 1980s, and the unemployment total is expected to top three million.

Alan Tomlinson, partner at licensed insolvency practitioners Tomlinsons, said: "I have been an insolvency practitioner since the eighties and have never been so busy.

"Companies of all sizes, and in all sectors, are folding by the day, putting more and more people out of a job. The CBI's prediction, last month, that unemployment will peak at just over three million in the second quarter of 2010 could prove to be wildly optimistic."

People losing their jobs are being urged to contact their council to ensure they are getting all the advice, support and benefits they are eligible for.

"From retraining and finding a new job to filling in housing benefits forms, town halls are there to help people through difficult times," said Margaret Eaton, chairman of the Local Government Association.

"Councils can help people save up to £2,000 a year by keeping household costs down in whole range of ways. An eye watering £1.8 billion of council tax reductions go unclaimed every year meaning that millions simply aren't collecting the benefits they're eligible for," Ms Eaton said.

"Town halls are able to give hard pressed residents a helping hand."

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