Five-year rise forecast for jobless

The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) predicted the jobless total will increase in the coming years everywhere except the South East, east of England and London.

Regions expected to be worst affected are those which depend most on the public sector, which is being hit by huge job losses in the wake of the Government’s austerity drive.

Wales, the North East and Scotland are among those which face a period of transition, especially Northern Ireland, where almost a third of workers are employed in the public sector, said CEBR.

The UK’s jobless rate is forecast to increase to 10.7 per cent by 2016 compared with the current 8.3 per cent, leaving it higher than at any time since 1995, following the recession of the early 1990s.

The unemployment rate in Wales is forecast to increase to 10.5 per cent, the highest since comparable records began in 1992, said the CEBR, while the labour market in the South East is expected to remain “relatively buoyant” over the next few years.

Unemployment fell slightly last month to 2.65 million, but analysts expect the figure to increase, especially as more public sector job cuts are expected.

The total number of people unemployed in Yorkshire is now 248,000 – just under one in 10 of the total number able to work.