Jobless men push up unemployment

Unemployment rose by the biggest monthly margin since 1991, according to official jobless figures.

Under the Labour Force Survey (LFS) count it rose by 164,000 to 1.79 million in the three months to August against 1.62 million in the three-month period to May.

The huge rise pushed the unemployment rate up to 5.7% from 5.2%.The LFS count includes people not eligible for benefits and is the government’s preferred measure.

The rise was largely due to a 111,000 increase in the number of jobless men to 1.06 million. The unemployment rate for men was up to 6.3% from 5.6%. Unemployment among women rose by 52,000 to 732,000 and the unemployment rate went up to 5.1% from 4.8%.

Unemployment under the claimant count rose for the eighth consecutive month. The count, which only includes those drawing Jobseeker’s Allowance, rose by 31,800 to stand at 939,900 in September. The unemployment rate under this count was up to 2.9% from 2.8%.

Unemployed men on benefit numbered 691,300 and the unemployment rate was up to 4.0%. The number of jobless women was up to 248,600 and the jobless rate was up to 1.7%.

Derek Simpson, joint general secretary of general union Unite, called for government intervention as “action across the wider economy is necessary to protect jobs and the economy in a recession”.