Record UK unemployment figures will get worse warn economists
July 18, 2009 by admin
Filed under Career News and Advice
The number of unemployed people is expected to peak at around 3m during the first half of 2010
The number of jobless rose to 2.38m in the three months to the end of May
according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the worst figure
since 1995. It followed a record quarterly increase of 281,000 compared with the three months to February.
The dismal figures drove the unemployment rate up to 7.6pc from 7.2pc - a
12-year high - and surprised economists who had predicted the rate would
increase to 7.4pc. The number of unemployed people is expected to peak at
around 3m during the first half of 2010.
John Philpott, chief economist at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and
Development described the data as “wretched.” He added: “Any
optimism that unemployment will peak below 3m next year before the jobs
outlook starts to improve would appear to have evaporated.”
Read the original article at Telegraph
