Unemployment rises above 2.5m milestone

• Jobless total rises to 2.51m • Unemployment rate at 7.9% • Public sector employment falls by 111,000 • Claimant count rises by 20,300 in August Public sector job cuts imposed as part of the government’s austerity drive have sent unemployment back through the 2.5m barrier, according to official figures released on Wednesday. The Office for National Statistics said the number of people out of work rose by 80,000 in the three months to July, reaching 2.51m. Despite ministerial hopes that the private sector will be able to compensate for the squeeze on the public sector, the ONS said the May to July period had seen the sharpest rise in unemployment in two years. The unemployment rate using the internationally agreed yardstick for calculating joblessness rose to 7.9% for May to July, from 7.7% in February to April. Officials said that employment in the public sector had fallen by 111,000 in the second quarter of 2011, the biggest drop since recent records began in 1999. The government’s alternative measure for unemployment – the claimant count – indicated that an additional 20,300 people were out of work and claiming benefits in August, a smaller increase than the City had feared following an increase of more than 30,000 in July. The claimant count total now stands at 1,580,900. Unemployment on both measures has been rising in recent months as the UK’s recovery from the deep recession of 2008-09 has stalled. Economic output has increased by just 0.2% in the nine months to June. The ONS data showed that employment in the three months to July fell by 69,000, the weakest performance since spring 2010. Employment minister Chris Grayling, said: “Today’s figures underline the scale of the challenge that we face particularly given slower growth across Europe and North America. Unemployment remains lower than it was six months ago but clearly we must continue to focus our efforts on supporting business growth and ensure that people who do lose their jobs have the best possible support to get back into employment.” Unemployment and employment statistics Economics Public sector cuts Economic policy Larry Elliott guardian.co.uk

Posted by on September 14, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.