Jobless total rises by 70,000 to hit highest level since last summer

The total is the worst since last summer, giving the UK a jobless rate of 7.9 per cent.

In Yorkshire the jobless total rose by 11,000 to 253,000, or 9.2 per cent.

The Office for National Statistics revealed that 900,000 people have been out of work for over a year, an 8,000 increase on the three months to November, while the number of unemployed 16 to 24-year-olds rose by 20,000 to 979,000.

Union leaders said it was clear the austerity programme wasn’t working.

Ministers highlighted a 7,000 fall in Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants last month, to 1.53 million.

Employment Minister Mark Hoban said: “The figures show a further fall in the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), including a welcome drop amongst young people.

“But there are still tough challenges ahead. We will continue to give jobseekers all the help and support they need to realise their aspirations.”

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “These figures make for grim reading. Unemployment is up, average wage growth is at its lowest since 2009, and long-term joblessness is continuing to rise.

“In the week that the IMF called on the Government to ease off austerity, today’s results provide further evidence of why the Chancellor must change course and prioritise jobs, growth and living standards.

“Our jobs market is a long way off a strong recovery and is being made worse by economic policies which are failing to deliver sustained employment growth and rising real wages.”

The figures were released amid more gloomy jobs news for Yorkshire.

Kirklees College, which has campuses in Hudddersfield, Batley and Dewsbury, is to make over 50 staff redundant as it struggles with debt and £5m funding cuts.

Principal Peter McCann said college building projects had “added a significant annual repayment to our costs at a time when public sector funding is reducing”.