Afternoon:
15°c
Jobless figures are leaked: worst since 1981
12.05.09
The Government was forced to publish dismal unemployment figures this afternoon a day early after an embarrassing leak.
Official figures showed the jobless total jumped by 244,000 to 2.22 million in the three months to March, or 7.1%, with economists warning it will hit three million or four million before the downturn is over.
It was the largest quarterly increase in unemployment since 1981.
The claimant count rose 57,100 to 1.51 million in April, the highest level since August 1997, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The figures were not due out until 9.30am tomorrow but were published at 2pm today after some of the information became public early.
A source said the data “just walked out of the door” of the ONS this morning.
It overshadowed more positive figures on the economy which helped drive the pound to a four-month high against the US dollar.
Sterling was up 2.12 cents to $1.5322 having earlier hit $1.5306 — just shy of its 2009 peak in early January of $1.5374.
