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- Total jobless rate is 8.4% with 1.6million on jobseeker's allowance
- Youth unemployment rises by 52,000 to more than 1.04 million
- A MILLION working days lost in November due to public sector strikes
- Average earnings increase by 1.9%, down on the previous month
Last updated at 11:00 AM on 18th January 2012
Unemployment increased to a 17-year high today after a 118,000 rise in the number of people out of work.
The figure jumped to 2.68 million in the three months to November, the worst since the summer of 1994, giving the UK a jobless rate of 8.4 per cent.
Record youth unemployment saw the number of jobless 16 to 24-year-olds rise by 52,000 to 1.04 million, the highest since records began in 1992.
And there was little hope of a turn-around with small businesses saying they will lay off even more people in the next three months.
Out of work: An unemployed man walks into a jobcentre to collect benefits, as today the total number of jobless soars to 2.68 million
The increase wipes out the modest improvements from the previous quarter and the data will cause a headache for the Chancellor, George Osborn, who is likely to face growing calls to increase growth while also tackling the national deficit.
In a further sign that the economy is struggling, the number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance in December increased by 1,200 to 1.6 million, the highest for a year after the 10th consecutive monthly rise.
Other figures released today showed that almost a million working days were lost in November as a result of the public sector pensions strike, the highest figure since 1989.
The Office for National Statistics reported that the number of people in full-time employment fell by 57,000 in the latest three months, but there was a 75,000 increase in part-time workers.
Pressure: Chancellor George Osborne will face calls to revive the economy with jobs creation
There was a 44,000 rise in the number of people working part-time or for themselves because they could not find a full-time job, taking the total to 1.3 million, the highest since comparable records began in 1992.
Employment increased by 18,000 to 29.12 million, while the number of people classed as economically inactive fell by 61,000 to 9.29 million, a rate of 23.1%.
The fall was mainly due to fewer women looking after a family or home, and fewer retired people under the age of 65.
Unemployment increased evenly among men and women in the latest quarter, while the number of people out of work for longer than two years increased by 1,000 to 424,000.
There was a 10,000 fall in the number out of work for more than a year to 857,000.
Average earnings increased by 1.9% in the year to November, down by 0.2 percentage points on the previous month.
The Federation of Small Businesses warned that smaller firms will look to shed staff in the first three months of the year, adding that the Government should be 'bolder' in its changes to employment law, including exempting micro firms from proposals on pay audits.
A survey of over 1,600 FSB members showed that around one in 13 planned to lay off workers in the coming months.
FSB chairman John Walker said: 'The beginning of 2012 is beginning to look bleak, with confidence incredibly low and businesses looking to shed staff. However, things do not need to be so negative. If the Government makes the right choices and puts action into words we can turn this around.
'Tinkering and increasing existing employment laws will only serve to worsen this situation, but by putting simple measures in place, such as excluding micro firms from the right to request flexible working for all, will help free businesses from the shackle of red tape so they can grow, innovate and take on new staff.'
The TUC has warned that the prospects of finding a job are likely to get 'much worse' in the face of fresh cuts in public spending this year.
Turn for the worse: Unemployment and the numbers claiming jobless benefits are headed in the wrong direction.
With forecasts of more than 700,000 jobs set to be axed by the end of 2017, the TUC said it will be even harder for the unemployed to get back into the labour market.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: 'These figures are even worse than the bleak economic forecasts predicted, with new records achieved for youth and female unemployment.
'The fear is now that mass joblessness becomes a permanent scar on the UK - with unemployment rising by 1,300 a day towards the end of last year.
'The news for those in work isn't great either, with pay growth falling and more people having to move to into part-time and insecure self-employment.
'We are in the midst of a full-blown jobs crisis that is causing misery for millions and ruining any chance of an economic recovery.
'Ministers must start putting forward bold solutions to address this crisis, starting with a job guarantee for any young person out of work for six months.'
Unemployment in the regions between September and November
Region/ Total unemployed /Change on quarter/ Unemployment rate
North East, 153,000, plus 11,000, 12%
North West, 307,000, plus, 25,000, 8.9%
Yorkshire/Humber, 270,000, plus 11,000, 10.1%
East Midlands, 190,000, plus 7,000, 8.3%
West Midlands, 243,000, plus 9,000, 9.2%
East, 220,000, plus 18,000, 7.2%
London, 424,000, minus 1,000, 9.9%
South East, 284,000, plus 27,000, 6.4%
South West, 175,000, minus 1,000, 6.5%
Wales, 130,000, minus 1,000, 8.9%
Scotland, 231,000, plus 19,000, 8.6%
N Ireland, 59,000, minus 7,000, 6.8%
Unemployment will not fall below 2.5 million until 2016 at the earliest and will peak at 2.9 million next year, John Philpott, chief economic advisor of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, has predicted.
He forecast that the UK’s jobless rate will jump to 8.8% at the end of 2013 amid continuing cuts in the public sector.
Up to 20 jobseekers are chasing every vacancy in parts of the country, five times the national average, according to a study by the think tank IPPR North.
Network Rail said that one in four university graduates who left university in the past two years had turned down a job offer because they were overqualified.
Almost half of 450 graduates surveyed said they found it difficult to narrow down the type of job they were looking for.
Martina Milburn, chief executive of youth charity The Prince's Trust, said: "Britain's jobless generation are losing hope for the future.
'Unemployment can have a devastating effect, not just on future job and wage prospects, but also damaging well-being and mental health.
'Our research shows that unemployed young people are feeling less confident about the future than they did this time last year.
'The Government must work together with charities and employers on courses that are proven to help young people into jobs. Last year, more than three in four young people supported by The Prince's Trust moved into work, education or training.'
Charles Levy, senior economist at The Work Foundation, said: 'Today's labour market statistics offer some tentative signs that the economy was stabilising at the end of last year. In the three months to November, employment actually increased by 18,000. This comes after very high job losses over the summer.
'This will, however, be of little comfort to the millions of workers who are facing the toughest labour market since the start of the recession. Comparing the three months to November last year with the previous three months, unemployment increased by 118,000.'
Paul Kenny, general secretary of the GMB union, said: 'This rise in unemployment was made in Downing Street. The truth is that jobs are haemorrhaging in the public and private sectors and no one in the Government seems to know what to do to stop this.
'There are parts of the country in such despair that more than a quarter of households with people of working age have no one in work.
'The number one political priority has to be securing a reduction in unemployment.'
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