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Jobless figures reach 15-year high
Ben Bailey12 Aug 2009
More grim evidence of the recession's human cost will come today with figures set to show a further rise in unemployment to a 15-year high of around 2.5 million.
Despite recent signs that the recession may have passed its worst phase, the jobless rate traditionally lags behind and there is more misery on the horizon.
The three months to May saw unemployment rise by 281,000 to 2.38 million and experts are braced for a similar scale of increase in the quarter to June.
Many experts predict dole queues will stretch past the three million mark next year - but an even gloomier forecast from the Centre for Economics and Business Research says it could approach four million.
This would be far worse than the 1980s peak under Margaret Thatcher.
The situation is set to grow even more bleak in the months ahead, when a new crop of university graduates and school leavers enters the worst jobs market for a generation.
IHS Global Insight economist Howard Archer said: "Youth unemployment is a growing and very real concern.
"Unemployment still looks highly likely to rise above three million in 2010 and we suspect it could eventually peak around 3.2 million."
He warned: "Even if the economy does return to growth in the third quarter, activity is still unlikely to be strong enough for some considerable time to come to prevent further net job losses. In fact, we suspect that unemployment will rise for the rest of this year and much, if not all, of 2010."
Consensus forecasts also predict the number of claimants of jobseeker's allowance (JSA) rising by 28,000 to 1.59 million in July.
Experts say the claimant count is lagging behind the wider measure of unemployment due to individuals moving off the count on to Government schemes such as the New Deal.
Reader views (4)
And still this despicable government wants even
more immigrants let into the country! Where are they
going to work? Where are the jobs for them? Are they
all going to work in restaurants?
Or are they coming here just to claim benefits? Hmmm,
which is more likely?
Only in bonkers Britain!
- Lb, Bromley, 13/08/2009 01:24
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Mass uncontrolled immigration. Its going to get worse peeps. ( wait for all the little sprogs to be born )
- Grim Reaper, Hell, 12/08/2009 13:17
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And these are just the people that are counted. Do we include those that are 'training' or 'students' those that have to work longer to get a pension but are too old to work, those that have no faith in the jobseekers system where their savings are above the very low level bar.
Clearly there will be a lot of miscounting here and it is THIS LABOUR GOVERNMENT that IS RESPONSIBLE.
If you are old enough to remember the poster campaign 'Labour isn't working' you might reflect that there was never a more true word printed !
Labour is no longer a friend of the Working Class, It has milked the Middle Class and decimated the land owning gentry. Who are its friends, media types and bankers. well bankers have wrecked the economy and the media types are completely vacuous with no real input to benefiting society at large.
Clearly Labour has no friends left, resign the lot of you - right now !
- Jerry, London, 12/08/2009 09:31
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4,000,000 UNEMPLOYED IN THE UK TODAY.
7,000,000 UNEMPLOYED IN THE UK BY THE END OF 2010.
MILLIONS OF NEETS LOITERING WITH INTENT AND YOUR MP COULD NOT CARE LESS.
WHAT A PATHETIC SHAMBLES THOSE WOMBLES ARE IN THE HOUSE OF CONMEN.
BRING BACK CONSCRIPTION.
BRING BACK THE BIRCH.
RETURN THE UK TO A DEMOCRACY.
AND GET RID OF 400 PARASITE MP's.
- Reuben Camara, Republic of Morecambe, UK, 12/08/2009 07:51
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