1:08pm UK, Wednesday January 19, 2011
Unemployment has soared by 49,000 to 2.5 million - with a record number of young people out of work, according to the latest figures.
One in five 16 to 24-year-olds is jobless - an increase of 32,000 in the three months to the end of November.
While the unemployment rate is 7.9%, it stands at more than 20% for young people.
About 951,000 of 16 to 24-year-olds are now jobless, which is the highest figure since records began in 1992.
While the number of unemployed has risen, the claimant count - those claiming Jobseekers Allowance - has fallen by 4,100 to 1.46 million.
Redundancies swelled by 14,000 to 157,000.
Vacancies for the three months to November 2010 stood at 469,000 - with more than five people chasing every job.
Employment experienced its biggest fall since the summer of 2009, dropping 69,000 to 29 million.
Employment minister Chris Grayling said: "These figures serve to underline the scale of the challenge we face.
"We inherited the largest budget deficit in peacetime history and high levels of worklessness, which we are determined to bring down by rebalancing the economy and supporting private sector jobs growth."
David Kern, chief economist at the British Chamber of Commerce, said: "These figures are disappointing and once again slightly worse than expected.
"Employment has declined for both full-time and part-time jobs, and the number of people working part-time because they could not find a full-time job rose to its highest level since comparable records began in 1992."
He continued: "We reiterate our forecast that unemployment is likely to increase to 2.6million over the next year, with a net rise of around 100,000."
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