UK jobless rate rises

Official figures have revealed that the number of people claiming unemployment benefits soared by 20,100 last month to 846,700 - the biggest increase since Britain’s last recession in 1992.

In the three months to June, the number of people out of work increased by 60,000 to 1.67 million, pushing the official unemployment rate up 0.2% to 5.4%.

Approximately 126,000 people were made redundant in the same period, up by 14,000 from the period January to March.

George Buckley, an economist at Deutsche Bank, said the labour market was deteriorating sharply and he believes that this will continue due to slower economic growth.

Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, Vince Cable, described the figures as disappointing and warned of a ’serious impact on jobs’ as the economy slows and possibly heads toward a recession.

Mr Cable believes the Government needs to take action to ensure people who lose their jobs don’t lose their home as a result.

Figures show that repossessions are up by more than 40% at 19,000 this year - the highest level since the mid 1990s.

The news comes as Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, said the next year is to be a difficult one, with inflation high and output broadly flat.

The Bank does not expect the UK economy to grow at all over the next 12 months after Mr King added that the British economy is going through a difficult and painful adjustment and has not ruled out a recession.

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