Unemployment down, claims up

Wednesday, 17 February 2010 5:37 PM

By politics.co.uk staff

Unemployment fell at the tail end of 2009 but the number of people seeking jobseeker's allowance shot up by 20,000.

Official figures released this morning showed unemployment now stands at 2.46 million, after falling by 3,000.

But the number of 'underemployed workers' - those working less than they wish to - has risen, indicating that the fall in unemployment could paint an overly-rosy picture of the true state of the economy in the UK.

The rate of unemployment was unchanged at 7.8%, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

More job losses dampened expectations this week, including 2,000 people made unemployed at Birmingham city council, 900 at a Bosch factory in Cardiff and 469 at clothes retailer Ethel Austin.

Meanwhile, a Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) survey released on Monday predicted that the general election campaign would take place with a backdrop of job losses.

The survey of 700 employers by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) revealed a "substantial" fall in employment, especially in the public sector.

The size of the fall disappointed many analysts, who were hoping for a reduction of over 30,000 in overall unemployment, a reduction in the number of temporary workers being made unemployed and fewer involuntary part-time workers.

"Even if the jobs figures are slowly improving, hundreds of thousands of people across the UK are still out of work, with many more job losses announced in the past week, and for each of them this recession remains a personal tragedy," TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said.

The Lib Dems said the figures show Labour';s true legacy, but also insisted they showed the weakness in the Tories budget deficit plan.

"Record numbers of people out of work for more than a year is the government's dreaded landmark," said Liberal Democrat work and pensions spokesman Steve Webb.

These people will be the hardest to help back into work when the economy recovers and risk never coming off benefits.

"These figures show why cutting spending while the economy remains fragile would be a big mistake."

The Scottish National party (SNP) also suggested the slow improvement showed the economy needed more time before spending cuts took place.

SNP Treasury spokesperson Stewart Hosie said: "The Scottish economy is beginning to turn a corner - now is the wrong time for London to cancel fiscal stimulus.

"Every job loss is felt in local communities, and the London parties are letting Scotland down. Labour are already imposing zero stimulus this year by withdrawing the support package, while Tory proposals to cut even further and faster add up to negative stimulus.

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