UK unemployment hits new high
Unemployment in Britain stands at a 16-year high of 8.4 percent, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced Wednesday.
The figure, based on the government’s preferred International Labour Organisation measure, shows that the number of people out of work rose by 48,000 on the previous three months to 2.67 million. While the increase was the slowest since June, this is largely due to rise in those forced into part-time employment due to the lack of an alternative. The number of part-time workers in the UK now stands at 1.35 million—the highest figure on record. Youth unemployment also rose to a new record again, by 22,000. Some 1.04 million 16- to 24-year-olds are out of work—a rate of 22.2 percent, or more than one in five. Women workers accounted for two-thirds of the increase in jobless. Female unemployment rose by 32,000 with the number of women claiming unemployment benefits now at 531,700—the highest level since 1995.
More than 1 million women are now out of work. The rise is attributable to the government’s austerity measures, which have seen tens of thousands of jobs lost in the public sector. Wages, meanwhile, continue to stagnate. Average earnings rose by just 2 percent on the year, well below the Consumer Price Index rate of inflation, despite its relatively sharp fall to 3.6 percent.[Photo: PHOTOFUSION]
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