Jobless figure set to hit two million

Britain’s jobless figure could hit the two million mark this month if the unemployment trend continues.

Under the Labour Force Survey (LFS) count it rose by 131,000 to 1.92 million in the three-month period to November 2008 on the previous three months.

This rise pushed the unemployment rate up to 6.1% from 5.7%. 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 87,000 to 1.1 million and their unemployment rate was up to 6.8% from 6.3%. Unemployment among women rose by 44,000 to 776,000 and the unemployment rate was up to 5.4% from 5.1%.

In December 2008, unemployment under the claimant count rose by 77,900 to 1.16 million. The unemployment rate under this count, which only includes those claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance, was up to 3.6% from 3.3%. Unemployed men on benefit numbered 864,700 and the unemployment rate was up to 5.0%. The number of jobless women rose to 292,500, and their jobless rate was up to 2.0%.

Redundancies continue their rise while the jobs market is shrinking. A quarter of a million were made redundant in the three months to November last year — over 100,000 up on a year earlier. And the number of job vacancies fell by 153,000 to 530,000 in the three months to December.