Jobless figures soar to 17-year high
By Ruth McKee
Unemployment has hit a 17 year high with almost three million people in the UK now out of work, according to official figures released today.
The statistics, released by the Office of National Statistics [ONS], reveal that jobless figures shot up by 114,000 to 2.57 million between June and August this year.
Economists have given mixed reactions to the new figures, with some citing the sudden hike in unemployment as evidence that the economy has stopped growing.
"That [the data] shouldn't come as a surprise because the economy is growing at half the pace it needs to keep unemployment stable," said Alan Clarke, of scotia capital.
"That's not going to change anytime soon, so we should get used to numbers like this."
The ONS stats also show that part-time workers have fared particularly badly, with the number of people in part-time employment down by 175,000.
However, economist Ross Walker from RBS financial markets argued it is the fall in the numbers of part-time workers which led to the spike in the figures.
"The drop in total employment is bigger than people thought. But it is worth noting that it is almost entirely part-time," he said.
"So in the latest quarter, full-time employment – which to me is always the single most important indicator – was down just 2,000 and it's still up over the past year by about 124,000."
Youth unemployment also soared in this quarter, with 991,000 16-24 year olds now out of work, making the jobless rate hit a record high of 21.3% among this age group.
