UNEMPLOYMENT benefit claimant numbers soared in October with the number of people claiming benefit rising by 10,100, the largest increase since September 2011, the Office for National Statistics reported yesterday.
The claimant count rose to 1.58 million, the highest since July.
Other figures from the ONS showed that long-term unemployment – those out of work for over a year – increased by 12,000 in the quarter to September to 894,000, while 443,000 people have been jobless for more than two years, up by 21,000.
Part-time employment increased by 49,000 to 8.1 million, close to a record high.
The ONS said that the jobless rate among 16 to 24-year-olds was 963,000, including 315,000 unemployed young people in full-time education.
The ONS said that unemployment fell by 49,000 (the same figure as the increase in part-time workers), to 2.51 million in the three months to September, taking the jobless rate to 7.8% from 7.9%.
Commenting on the unemployment figures, Dave Prentis, Unison General Secretary, said: ‘The claimant count is still growing, as is the number of people stuck in part-time work who want to work full-time.
‘Millions of people, including a huge number of the under 25s, still cannot find a job.’
He added: ‘And if deeper cuts are outlined in the government’s Autumn Statement, things will only get worse in the New Year.
‘We urge the government to give the nation the Christmas present it needs, and start 2013 with a pro-growth, pro-jobs, pro-hope economic stimulus that can get the UK on the road to real and sustainable recovery.’
Paul Kenny, GMB General Secretary said: ‘With unemployment stuck at two and a half million, a lot of families face a miserable Christmas without any hope of getting a job. It is definitely hurting but it’s not working.
‘At GMB we have been seeing further job losses in both the public and private sectors over the past two months and it is hard to see where the new jobs are going to come from with confidence at rock bottom.’
