Job losses 'set to keep rising'

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The Trades Union Congress (TUC) said that although some economists are saying that the end of the recession may be in sight, unemployment will carry on rising for many months even after the UK economy has begun to pick up.

Using official figures and comparing the current recession to the economic downturn of the early 1990s, the TUC predicted that the number of people losing their jobs will carry on increasing until at least the autumn of next year.

The gloomy forecast came ahead of new figures which are expected to show another big increase in the jobless total. The number of unemployed people increased by 244,000 over the three months to March to reach 2.22 million, the biggest quarterly rise since 1981.The claimant count was 1.51 million in April, up 57,100 over the previous month and up 710,700 over the year to reach the highest since August 1997.

Officials at the TUC said there had always been a delay between the economy starting to grow and unemployment beginning to fall, as cautious employers make use of capacity among existing staff before recruiting new employees.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "Some now say that we have a recovery, but even if this is not a false dawn, as others fear, it will be years before the thousands of people who have lost their jobs, or who will lose them in months to come, will see anything to celebrate.

"That's why tackling unemployment must remain the Government's number one priority. Speeding up the process of getting people back into work and into jobs with decent pay will not only benefit the two million people currently out of work, but will also give the economy the spending boost it needs."

A protest by Youth Fight for Jobs will take place outside Lord Mandelson's Business Department to coincide with the release of the new unemployment figues. Youth employment is already more than 16% among under-25s and is expected to rise.