Unemployment rose by 114,000 between June and August to 2.57 million, a 17-year high, according to official figures. Our unemployment rate increased to 8.1 per cent. The jobless total for 16 to 24-year-olds hit a record high of 991,000 in the quarter, a jobless rate of 21.3 per cent.
The number of people out of work and claiming benefits rose 17,500 to 1.6 million in September. Other figures showed a record cut in the number of part-time workers, down by 175,000, and there was also a record reduction of 74,000 in the number of over-65s in employment.
Some local authorities had very high ratios of unemployment to vacancies in September: Inverclyde had 3,057 claimants to just 87 vacancies (35.1:1), Hackney 11,081 to 487 (22.8:1), Waltham Forest 9,782 to 490 (20:1). ■