Joblessness ‘on its way three million’

A survey of 1,000 employers also revealed a further widening of a North-South divide in the jobs market, said the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

The difference between the number of employers intending to hire new staff and those warning of cuts has fallen to the lowest figure since the end of the last recession in 2009, the study showed.

The CIPD said the findings reinforced its prediction that unemployment could reach 2.85 million by the end of the year unless business conditions improved.

The jobless total increased to 2.68 million last month and is expected to rise again when the Office for National Statistics publishes figures on Wednesday.

According to the report, the worsening job prospects are almost entirely accounted for by a drop in confidence in the private sector.

Almost a third of private sector service firms intend to make redundancies in the coming months, up from one in four at the end of last year.

Access to finance and a shortage of skilled workers were among the barriers to hiring that were identified by employers.

Job prospects were brighter in London and the South of England, while firms in the North were less optimistic.