Security forces step up attempts to tackle rise in violence, terrorism and radical Islam in troubled western region Chinese security forces have launched a two-month “strike hard” crackdown against violence, terrorism and radical Islam following renewed ethnic violence in the restive western region of Xinjiang, the regional government has announced. The campaign, which began on 11 August and will last until 15 October, includes around-the-clock patrols of troublespots, identity checks and street searches of people and vehicles, according to a notice posted on the regional government’s website. Authorities would step up investigations of suspicious activity and deal with defendants even more harshly through accelerated trials, the notice said. “Public security units at all levels across the region must strengthen the work of security, take strict precautions, and create fear and awe,” it said. The region’s police department conceded that the number of violent incidents was on the rise and pledged to “uncover the masterminds and organisers behind such activities”. “The frequency with which terrorist activities are carried out in the region is rising and it must be curbed,” the department said in a statement. China rolls out campaigns on a regular basis despite criticism from rights groups and imposes tougher penalties for crimes from theft to endangering state security. Signalling the authorities’ determination to crush all opposition, Beijing this month dispatched to Xinjiang its elite Snow Leopard anti-terrorism unit, which was charged with securing the 2008 Beijing Olympics and specialises in anti-terrorism, riot control, bomb disposal and responding to hijackings. The unit will bolster security for the annual China-Eurasia Expo, being held in the regional capital, Urumqi, in the first week in September, along with National Day celebrations on 1 October. The crackdown follows fresh outbreaks of violence blamed on militants among Xinjiang’s native Uighur population, ethnic Turks who are culturally, linguistically and religiously distinct from China’s majority Han. Militants have for decades been fighting a low-level insurgency to gain independence for lightly populated but resource-rich Xinjiang, which borders Pakistan, Afghanistan and several unstable central Asian states. China generally keeps a tight lid on information about outbreaks of violence in Xinjiang. Uighur activists say even peaceful protests are often labelled acts of terrorism. However, official reports said at least three dozen people, including the attackers, were killed in three incidents in the cities of Hotan and Kashgar despite a massive security presence that was tightened following an anti-Chinese riot in Urumqi two years ago in which at least 197 people were killed. Beijing blames the violence on overseas-based militants, specifically those from the East Turkistan Islamic Movement who it says have trained in militant camps in Pakistan. Yet Beijing has provided no direct evidence, and analysts say they suspect its claims are driven more by ideology than proof. Uighur activists say harsh crackdowns only lead to greater anger among young Uighurs who already feel culturally and economically sidelined by waves of Han migration to the region. Dilxat Raxit, a spokesman for the German-based World Uyghur Congress, said high-pressure tactics and “systematic persecution” of attempts to assert a Uighur identity would only encourage radicalism. “China is ducking responsibility for the turmoil its own policies have created,” Raxit said. Xinjiang China guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Police called to disturbance in Barrow used stun gun to arrest man in his 20s who later died in hospital A man in his 20s has died in Cumbria after being shot with a Taser by police during his arrest. Police were called to Hartington Street in Barrow at 6.30pm on Tuesday following reports of a man causing a disturbance. A Taser was used during the arrest of the man, who later complained of feeling unwell. He was taken to hospital, where he died. The Independent Police Complaints Commission has been informed. The man has not been formally identified but was named locally as Dale Burns. A friend, who did not want to be identified, said: “Dale worked the doors around here at different pubs. He had a girlfriend and two young kids, aged four and two and a half. “I went to the hospital last night and his mum Donna was there. She didn’t know why he had been Tasered or what had happened. “Apparently he had been Tasered three times. “Dale was a really good lad, we went to the gym together, he’d been going since he was 15.” A Cumbria police spokesman said: “Neighbourhood police officers attended the scene and arrested a male on suspicion of causing criminal damage and, during the arrest, a Taser was deployed. “The man became unwell following the arrest and was taken to Furness general hospital by officers. “At around 9pm the man, who was in his 20s and lived locally, was pronounced dead.” Police Helen Carter guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Manmohan Singh steps up rhetoric in row over activist whose jailing has sparked biggest protests in decades The Indian prime minister has described as “totally misconceived” a fast by the self-styled Gandhian anti-corruption campaigner Anna Hazare. Manmohan Singh’s comments came during a political standoff that has led to some of India’s most widespread protests in decades. Anna Hazare,74, is fasting in prison with thousands of his followers assembled outside. The gathering is the latest development in a fast-moving crisis that saw him arrested on Tuesday and then refusing to leave jail after the government ordered his release. Hazare, who is demanding tougher laws against corruption in India, says he wants the right, before he leaves prison, to return to the city park where he originally planned to fast publicly. But Singh was uncompromising in a speech to parliament, as opposition lawmakers tried to shout him down. “I acknowledge that Anna Hazare may be inspired by high ideals,” Singh said. “However, the path that he has chosen, to impose a draft of the bill on parliament, is totally misconceived.” The crackdown on the activist and the arrest of thousands of his followers met with outrage from the opposition , sparking parliament’s adjournment and protests, ranging from candlelit vigils to the burning of effigies of government figures, in cities across India. The arrest and sudden about-turn appeared to confirm a widespread feeling the 78-year-old Singh is out of touch and his government is clumsy and too riddled with corruption scandals to govern Asia’s third-largest economy effectively. “Corrupt, repressive and stupid” was the verdict of the Hindu newspaper; “Anna has the government fumbling” was the headline in the Mail Today. Further protests are planned across India on Wednesday, with calls for civil servants to take leave and rickshaw drivers to strike. Opposition parties also plan to protest against the arrest in parliament. The ruling Congress party held an emergency meeting to discuss the crisis. Dressed in his trademark white shirt, white cap and spectacles, in the style of the independence leader, Mahatma Gandhi, Hazare has won support from Indians from all walks of life who are sick of endemic corruption. The arrest played into Hazare’s hands. Many parties were sceptical about the fast, however, and there has been criticism that the activist was holding Indian democracy hostage. But any doubts about the protest were overshadowed by the activist’s jailing. A weak political opposition means that the government should still survive the crisis, but it could further dim the prospect for economic reforms that have already been held back by policy paralysis and corruption scandals. The arrests shocked many in a country with strong memories of Gandhi’s independence battles against colonial rule, and his fasts and nonviolent protests. Opposition figures likened the crackdown on Hazare to the 1975 “emergency”, when the then prime minister, Indira Gandhi, arrested thousands of opponents. The home minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram, sought to justify Hazare’s arrest, saying governments had a right to impose conditions on protest. The question for many is whether Hazare’s movement will gain even more support in a fast-urbanising nation of 1.2 billion people whose increasingly assertive middle class is fed up with bribery scandals, poor services and unaccountable leaders. The scandals, including a telecoms bribery scam that may have cost the government $39bn (£24bn), have not only damaged Singh’s reform agenda; they have dented investor confidence and distracted parliament, just as inflation and higher interest rates are hitting the $1.6trn economy. Hazare rose to fame for lifting his village, in the western state of Maharashtra, out of chronic poverty. His social activism has forced out senior government officials and helped create a right-to-information act for citizens. Hazare became the unlikely thorn in the side of the Congress-led coalition when he first went on hunger strike in April, winning concessions from the government. He called off the fast after the government promised to introduce a bill creating a special ombudsman to bring corrupt politicians, bureaucrats and judges to book. The legislation was presented earlier this month, but activists condemned the draft version as toothless because the prime minister and judges were exempt from investigation. India Anna Hazare guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Honeymooner Ian Redmond, 30, from Lancashire, is second visitor mauled to death by shark this month A hunt is under way in the Seychelles for the shark that killed a British man on Tuesday. Ian Redmond, 30, from Lancashire, was attacked while his wife was sunbathing on the shore. Police spokesman Jean Toussaint said the attack took place shortly before 5pm local time. “We discovered that the British citizen was badly injured on the hips and the arms. He was assisted medically but unfortunately he could not make it,” he said. “We haven’t got the autopsy report yet but he definitely lost a lot of blood.” Redmond was taken to hospital but “had no chance of surviving because of the nature of the injuries”, Toussaint said. Redmond and his wife had been in the second week of their honeymoon and due to fly home on Sunday. Toussaint said “a big effort” was being made to catch the shark. “We had this first incident two weeks ago and for the local community it was a freak incident because it had never been reported before around the islands. It took everybody by surprise.” The shark struck in the waters off Anse Lazio beach on the island of Praslin, the second largest in the Indian Ocean archipelago and a popular destination with honeymooning Britons. A tourist in a dinghy dragged Redmond on board and brought him ashore. Another holidaymaker then tried to save his life, according to a report in the Daily Mail. “We heard screaming and people started running down the beach towards the water,” an American tourist was quoted as saying. “Someone had seen a fin sticking out of the water and then we saw a dinghy pulling a man from the water. “I saw the swimmer, who was missing a huge chunk of flesh from his left leg, so much so that I could see the bone of his thigh. He was sickeningly pale but still had his flippers on both feet. “At this point a woman ran over and started screaming. She said: ‘That’s my husband! We were just married.’ “Someone grabbed her and tried to keep her away. People all over the beach were just hugging whoever was close to them or trying to keep any children from witnessing what was going on.” Jeanne Vargiolu, 56, owner of a nearby restaurant, said she went to the beach after hearing ambulance sirens to find a French doctor treating the man and “a lot of police officers” surrounding him. “I saw his wife talking to about five people – I think one was English – that she still had hope he was still alive,” she said. “They were trying to help him but they could not get him alive.” Vargiolu said her family has lived on the beach for 36 years and the two shark attacks this month were the first she had seen. “It must be the same shark,” she said. A French tourist who died while snorkelling on 1 August was named in the Seychelles media as Nicolas François Virolle, 36. Other tourists on the beach are said to have pulled him from the sea but he bled to death. Authorities in the Seychelles have asked for help from shark experts in South Africa. There is a temporary ban on swimming or entering the waters around parts of Praslin. The Seychelles minister for home affairs and environment, Joel Morgan, held an emergency meeting in the capital, Victoria, as the government tried to limit the potential damage to the tourism industry, the country’s main source of foreign exchange. Alain St Ange, the head of the Seychelles tourism board, told the Daily Telegraph: “It was a freak accident. We are closing the beaches pending the arrival of experts from South Africa.” Prior to the death of the French tourist the last recorded fatal shark attack in the Seychelles was in 1963. The Foreign Office said: “We can confirm the death of a British national in the Seychelles. We are providing consular assistance to the next of kin.” The Seychelles’s profile was given a boost in the UK when Prince William and his wife, Kate, spent their honeymoon on North Island in May. Seychelles Animals Ben Quinn Adam Gabbatt guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
• Nearly 2.5m people unemployed • Benefit claimants rise to 1.56m • Number of women out of work highest since 1988 • Record number are self-employed or working part time • Youth unemployment pushes back towards 1m Britain’s lacklustre economic recovery is taking its toll on the labour market, with unemployment increasing by 38,000 over the three months to June – the largest jump since spring 2009, when the UK was in recession. Official figures released on Wednesday revealed that 2.49m people were out of work on the government’s preferred International Labour Organisation measure. The number of people claiming jobseekers’ allowance also rose by 37,100, to 1.56 million in July. With GDP growth sliding to just 0.2% in the second quarter of the year , analysts had been warning for some time that weaker growth and fragile confidence could deter firms from hiring new workers and lead to a renewed rise in unemployment. “Business confidence clearly needs to rise before employment growth will pick up again, but at the moment the surveys suggest that companies remain worried about economic growth both at home and abroad and are generally erring towards cost-cutting rather than expansion,” said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit. Women continue to bear the brunt of layoffs, many of which are concentrated in the public sector. Of the 38,000 increase in unemployment over the quarter, 21,000 were women. The number of women out of work is now 1.05 million, the highest since the spring of 1988. A record number of people – 1.26 million – are now self-employed or working part-time, not because they want to, but because they cannot find a full-time job. This total increased by 83,000 over the three months to June. For those who have managed to stay in work, there was some evidence that pay deals are starting to creep up, with average earnings growing at an annual rate of 2.6%, up from 2.3% in the three months to May. Youth unemployment is also rising again, after dropping in recent months, the Office for National Statistics revealed. A total of 949,000 16-to-24 year olds, or 20.2% of the young workforce, were unemployed. Excluding those in full-time education looking for a job, the total is 671,000, or 18.8% of the workforce. Unemployment and employment statistics Economics Unemployment Job losses Recession Work & careers Heather Stewart guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Stock exchange shares and main indices lose ground as German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Nicolas Sarkozy propose new financial transaction tax Plans for a new Robin Hood-style tax on financial dealings hit shares in stock exchange operators on Wednesday, as the financial markets balked at the latest proposals to rescue the eurozone . The prospect of tax rate harmonisation and a new financial transaction tax, as pledged by German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Nicolas Sarkozy, did not ease fears over the stability of the region. The FTSE 100 fell 77 points in early trading to 5279, with other European markets also losing ground. Shares in the FTSE 250-listed London Stock Exchange fell by 6% at the start of trading, with Germany’s Deutsche Bourse and pan-European exchange NYSE Euronext suffering similar falls. The three exchanges would all be affected if traders were forced to pay a small fee every time they bought and sold stocks or currencies. Sarkozy and Merkel pledged to create a “true European economic government” following their mini-summit in Paris on Tuesday. As well as a transaction tax, the pair agreed to harmonise taxes across their two countries and push for tougher deficit reduction across the eurozone. Eurobonds, though, remained off-limits – to the disappointment of some analysts who believe that European countries must combine their borrowing needs to get through the turbulent financial markets. Michael Hewson, market analyst at CMC Markets, said the measures announced in Paris were “all profoundly disappointing”. “The tax harmonisation plan will not go down well with other European Union countries, particularly Ireland where it has been a red line issue. There was no talk about boosting the European Financial Stability Fund and no talk about euro bonds, all rather disappointing, but not altogether surprising, given the political obstacles against them,” said Hewson. “The main concern is about where future growth will come from, if Germany as the main heartbeat and cash generator of Europe catches a cold,” he added. GDP data released on Tuesday showed that the German economy barely grew in the second quarter of 2011. Tax expert Richard Murphy welcomed the commitment to a transaction tax , calling it “a welcome and overdue move that needs replication way beyond the eurozone if the feral banking economy is to be brought under control”. Irish finance minister Michael Noonan said that any such tax should be imposed across the EU rather than just the eurozone. He also argued that the Franco-German plan to harmonise their corporation tax levels would not affect Ireland’s current rate of just 12.5%. Swiss franc in demand Investors continued to flock to safe havens such as the Swiss franc, which gained 2% against the euro despite the Swiss Central Bank pledging to take steps to lower the currency’s value . Jane Foley, senior currency strategist at Rabobank, said the markets should have learned that the eurozone crisis will not be solved quickly, particularly as domestic political pressure prevents Merkel from moving swiftly into full fiscal union across the zone. “Chancellor Merkel remains tied down by moral hazard. Even if she recognises that significant fiscal integration will be needed to save European monetary union she cannot openly admit this at this point,” said Foley. Stock markets Europe Europe Tobin tax Banking Graeme Wearden guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Two men jailed for four years for posting messages inciting riots although no trouble resulted from them Criticism is growing of the sentences imposed on some convicted rioters after two men were jailed for four years for posting messages on Facebook inciting other people to create disorder in their home towns. A cabinet minister defended the tough sentencing approach, but a senior Liberal Democrat accused the courts of seeking retribution. Jordan Blackshaw, 20, from Northwich Town, and Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan, 22, of Latchford, Warrington, were sentenced at Chester crown court after admitting using the social networking site to try to arrange riots. No trouble resulted from their actions. The communities secretary, Eric Pickles, told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme on Wednesday that it would be wrong if people “got off with just a slap on the wrist” for incitement to riot. But, in a sign of tension within the coalition government, the Liberal Democrats’ home affairs spokesman, Tom Brake, told BBC2′s Newsnight that people were receiving sentences and “if they had committed the same offence the day before the riots, they would not have received a sentence of that nature”. “This should be about restorative justice … it should not be about retribution,” he said. Defence lawyers and civil rights groups have also criticised “disproportionate” sentences as official figures show nearly 1,300 suspects have been brought before the courts. Andrew Neilson, of the Howard League for Penal Reform, told the Times it was “fair enough” that the public disturbances were seen as an aggravating factor but added: “There seems to be a complete lack of proportionality to some of the sentences. These make a mockery of proportionality, which is a key principle of the justice system.” The revelation that magistrates were advised by justices’ clerks to disregard normal sentencing guidelines when dealing with riot-related cases has alarmed some lawyers, who warn it will trigger a spate of appeals. Sally Ireland, policy director of the law reform organisation Justice, said: “Some instances are completely out of all proportion. There will be a flurry of appeals although, by the time they have been heard, those sentences may already have been served. There’s a question about this advice [from justices' clerks] and whether it should have been issued at all. We would expect them to be giving advice [to magistrates] in individual cases rather than following a general directive.” Rakesh Bhasin, a solicitor partner at the law firm Steel & Shamash, which represents some of those charged following the riots, said some sentences seemed to be disproportionate. Pickles said: “With regards to sentences, I think we need to understand that people for a while thought that this was a crime without consequence. We cannot have people being frightened in their beds, frightened in their own homes for their public safety. “And that’s why these kind of exemplary sentences are necessary and I think the public would be rightly alarmed if that incitement to riot got off with just a slap on the wrist.” Blackshaw set up an “event” called Smash Down in Northwich Town for the night of 8 August on Facebook but no one apart from the police, who were monitoring the page, turned up at the meeting point outside a McDonald’s restaurant. Blackshaw was promptly arrested. Sutcliffe-Keenan, 22, used his Facebook account in the early hours of 9 August to design a web page titled The Warrington Riots. The court was told it caused a wave of panic in the town. When he woke up the next morning with a hangover, he removed the page and apologised, saying it had been a joke. His message was distributed to 400 Facebook contacts, but no rioting broke out as a result. Judge Elgan Edwards sentenced Blackshaw to four years in a young offenders institution and said he had committed an evil act. “This happened at a time when collective insanity gripped the nation. Your conduct was quite disgraceful and the title of the message you posted on Facebook chills the blood. “You sought to take advantage of crime elsewhere and transpose it to the peaceful streets of Northwich.” Sutcliffe-Keenan, the judge said, “caused a very real panic” and put a considerable strain on police resources in Warrington. The Crown Prosecution Service said the men’s Facebook posts caused significant panic and revulsion in local communities as rumours of anticipated violence spread. “While the judge heard the two defendants were previously of good character, they admitted committing very serious offences that carry a maximum sentence of 10 years,” it said. “The consequence of their actions could have led to more disorder and this was taken into account.” A looter who helped himself to an ice-cream cone during the disturbances was warned on Tuesday that he could be jailed. Anderson Fernandes, 22, appeared before magistrates in Manchester charged with burglary after he took two scoops of coffee ice-cream and a cone from Patisserie Valerie in the city centre. He gave the cone away because he didn’t like the flavour. Fernandes admitted burglary in relation to the ice-cream and an unconnected charge of handling stolen goods after a vacuum cleaner was recovered from his home. District judge Jonathan Taaffe said: “I have a public duty to deal swiftly and harshly with matters of this nature.” Fernandes will be sentenced next week. In sentencing four other convicted Manchester rioters, a crown court judge, Andrew Gilbert QC, made clear why he was disregarding sentencing guidelines when he said “the offences of the night of 9 August … takes them completely outside the usual context of criminality”. He added: “The principal purpose is that the courts should show that outbursts of criminal behaviour like this will be and must be met with sentences longer than they would be if the offences had been committed in isolation. For those reasons, I consider that the sentencing guidelines for specific offences are of much less weight in the context of the current case, and can properly be departed from.” The Ministry of Justice’s latest estimate, at midday on Tuesday, shows the courts have dealt with 1,277 alleged offenders of whom more than 700 have been remanded in custody. Two-thirds of the cases were in London. By midday on Monday, 115 people had been convicted. More than three-quarters of those were adults. About 21% of those appearing before the courts have been juveniles. Paul Mendelle QC, a former chairman of the Criminal Bar Association, said: “The idea that the rulebook goes out the window strikes me as inherently unjust. It sets all manner of alarm bells ringing. Guidelines are not tramlines. There are guidelines and they take account of aggravating and mitigating circumstances. “There have been rulings following the Bradford riots and Israeli embassy demonstrations that said which sort of guidelines should be followed. I don’t see why [magistrates] should be told to disregard these.” The judiciary and the Ministry of Justice have denied that they were involved in circulating the advice to justices’ clerk last week. UK riots Crime UK criminal justice Prisons and probation Youth justice Young people Owen Bowcott Haroon Siddique Andrew Sparrow guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Beijing says claims that Pakistan gave it access to wreckage of Black Hawk aircraft are ‘groundless and preposterous’ China has denied claims that Pakistan allowed it see the wrecked US helicopter used in the raid to kill Osama bin Laden. In a one-line statement – Beijing’s first response to the allegations – the defence ministry described the reports as “groundless and preposterous”. The Financial Times reported on Sunday that Pakistan gave Chinese military engineers access to the aircraft , citing US sources close to the White House and CIA. It said the officials were allowed to survey the wreckage of the modified Black Hawk and take samples of its “stealth” skin before it was handed back to the US. The New York Times also quoted American intelligence sources who said that Chinese officials had photographed the remains of the helicopter, adding that the information was based on intercepted phone calls. Pakistani officials had hinted after the raid in Abbottabad that they might grant access to the wreckage to their close ally. But a Pakistani intelligence official, who declined to be named, told the Guardian on Tuesday the story was “baseless”, adding “speculation … is counterproductive in building relations”. The helicopter crash-landed during the raid and special forces blew it up to prevent it falling into foreign hands, but a substantial tail section survived. Experts immediately noted key differences from other Black Hawks, including the outer skin and curved shape; apparently part of its radar-avoidance technology. They believe the helicopter was also equipped with noise- and heat-suppression devices. Pakistan returned the surviving section to the US after a trip by senator John Kerry in May. But US sources believe it had already allowed China onto the site, perhaps in retaliation for the May raid. The US has poured billions of dollars of aid into Pakistan, but relations were strained before the raid and deteriorated rapidly amid mutual recrimination. Many in the US are suspicious that Bin Laden was able to hide in Pakistan for so long, while Islamabad saw the raid on its soil as humiliating. China and Pakistan are longstanding “all-weather friends”, who share suspicion of their neighbour India, and of US influence in Asia. Beijing greeted Bin Laden’s death as a positive development, but also defended the Pakistani government from criticism, saying it had made an important contribution to the war on terrorism. China US military United States Osama bin Laden Tania Branigan guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Foster’s is seen as the last big prize in a beer industry that has seen heavy consolidation in recent years SABMiller has turned hostile in its bid to take control of rival brewer Foster’s Group. The London-based brewer said on Wednesday it is taking its £6bn offer for the Australian beer and wine producer directly to its shareholders. The move comes two months after SAB made its initial approach, which was promptly rejected by the Foster’s board. “As there has been no willingness to engage in relation to SABMiller’s proposal on the part of the Foster’s Board, SABMiller has decided to make an offer to Foster’s shareholders directly,” SAB said. A successful merger would bring together many of the brewing industry’s famous names. SAB Miller’s brands include Peroni, Grolsch, Pilsner Urquell and the Miller range of beers. Foster’s is best known for its eponymous lager – much of which is brewed in Manchester – and is seen as the last big prize in a beer industry that has seen heavy consolidation in recent years. At AUS$4.90 a share, SAB’s bid is actually slightly below current Foster’s share price. The Melbourne-based company had claimed that this price “significantly undervalues the company”, and analysts believe SAB might have to pay as much as AUS$5.40 a share to win. Control of Australia’s beer market is shared between Foster’s and Lion Nathan. Wine, though, is now a more popular beverage in the country than beer . Foster’s sold off its own wine business, which includes the Lindemans and Rosemount labels, earlier this year – a move that encouraged speculation that the rest of the company might be acquired. Shares in SAB Miller fell by 1.5% to £20.85 in early trading. Before moving for Foster’s, the company had been focused on growing its business in developing beer markets such as Africa and Eastern Europe. SABMiller Food & drink industry Mergers and acquisitions Beer Food & drink Graeme Wearden guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
• Jobless numbers forecast to fall to 2.44 million • Unemployment benefit claimants expected to rise • Wage increases still muted . Official jobs figures are expected to show that unemployment in the UK fell again in the three months to June, but at a slower rate than in previous periods. The number of unemployed, including those not eligible for jobseeker’s allowance (JSA), is expected to have fallen by around 10,000 in the quarter to about 2.44 million. This compares with a drop of 26,000 in the three months to May and an 88,000 plunge in the quarter to April. This means the unemployment rate in the UK will remain around 7.7%. Elsewhere, the Office for National Statistics figures are expected to show an increase in those claiming JSA, with the count increasing by 19,900 in July, a rise of 4.8%. Average weekly earnings in the three months to June are expected to have increased at a mediocre 2.4% – a slight improvement on the previous increase of 2.3%. Muted wage growth in the UK is combining with soaring inflation – which increased to 4.4% in July from 4.2% in June – and squeezing household budgets. Victoria Cadman, economist at Investec, said: “Last month’s labour market report presented a diverging picture with the claimant count rising in June and data showing a fall in unemployment in the three months to May. “We tend to the view that this reflects the shift in the benefits system away from income support toward Jobseeker’s Allowance, thereby adding to the claimant count, which is measured by JSA. “We expect a similarly divergent story will play out in today’s report.” The UK’s employment rate is struggling to return to pre-recession levels, the TUC warned earlier this week. Employment levels across the UK in April 2011, the latest available figures, were down 0.5% on pre-recession levels, the TUC said. A report from the ONS last month revealed that the south east suffered the lowest rise in unemployment during the recession while the West Midlands was hit by the biggest increase. The jobless figures reached a low point in 2005 but every region of the UK saw unemployment rise during the 2008/9 recession. Unemployment and employment statistics Economics Job losses guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …