MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Jobless number climbs to 2.47 million in Britain, highest since 1997

No signs of recovery for the unemployed under 25, says TUC secretary general Brendan Barber

British unions and employers have reacted with alarm after unemployment surged to a 14-year high prompting fresh calls for Government help for the growing army of jobless. The total now stands at 2.47 million following a 210,000 rise in the three months to July.

The number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance rose by 24,400 to 1.61 million in August - the highest since May 1997 and the 18th monthly rise in a row.

The recession's impact on young people was also underlined by jobless totals among 16 to 24-year-olds reaching 947,000 - the highest level since Office for National Statistics (ONS) records began in 1992. The jobless rate among this age group is also a record 19.7%, meaning one in five is looking for work.

The number of economically inactive people also rose to its highest point since records began in 1971, at 7.99 million, said the ONS. The employment rate was 72.5%, the lowest level for more than 12 years.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “There are now over a million people out of work for more than six months, more than one in three of them under 25. There are no signs of recovery here.”

Derek Simpson, joint leader of Unite, said the figures showed that the recession was “far from over”, while Unison leader Dave Prentis said: “It is crucial that the Government act quickly to help people back into work, particularly the near one million young people who must not be allowed to become the lost generation. With such devastating figures it would be ludicrous to add public sector workers to the dole queues by cutting back on public services.”

Conservative leader David Cameron said: “It's extremely depressing that we are getting to a point of 2.5 million people unemployed. What we need to do is make sure our welfare system is working in every way it can to help people get jobs, to help people get back into work, to give them the training that they need - and we will have more to say about that. It is one of the number one issues that are current in British politics. I don't think we do that in the best way that we could at the moment and we will have a lot more to say about that.”

Work and Pensions Secretary Yvette Cooper warned that it could be some time before the jobless total began to fall, even as the economy began to recover.

“We know the evidence from previous recessions suggests that sometimes employers can wait until they feel more confident before they start recruiting again so there can be a lag,” she said. “We therefore have to do everything we can to keep investing now. People are still being hit by the world recession.”