Unemployment keeps on rising

Unemployment is at an 11-year high, according to the latest official figures.

Under the Labour Force Survey (LFS), count it rose by 140,000 to 1.83 million in the third quarter of 2008 against 1.69 million the previous quarter. The rise pushed the unemployment rate up to match the highest rate this century — 5.8% up from 5.4%. The LFS count includes people who are looking for work but not eligible for benefits and is the government’s preferred measure.

The number of jobless men rose by 85,000 to 1.07 million and their unemployment rate was up to 6.3% from 5.8%.

Unemployment among women rose by 55,000 to 750,000 and the rate was up to 5.2% from 4.9%.

Unemployment under the claimant count recorded its ninth consecutive monthly rise to 980,900 in October. The unemployment rate under this count was up to 3.0% from 2.9%. This figure only includes those drawing Jobseeker’s Allowance.

Unemployed men on benefit numbered 723,500 and the unemployment rate was up to 4.2%. The number of jobless women rose to 257,400, but their jobless rate was steady at 1.7%.

Other figures paint a gloomy picture. In the three months to September, 156,000 people said they had been made redundant — up 29,000 on the previous three months and 27,000 on a year earlier. The figures, therefore, don’t take account of recent redundancy announcements.