One in ten out of work in Yorkshire as jobless total hits 17-year high

The figure jumped to 2.68 million in the three months to November, the worst since the summer of 1994, giving the UK a jobless rate of 8.4%.

The number of unemployed 16 to 24-year-olds increased by 52,000 over the quarter to 1.04 million, the highest since records began in 1992.

And the number of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance in December increased by 1,200 to 1.6 million, the highest for a year after the 10th consecutive monthly rise.

Yorkshire’s jobless total was 270,000 - 11,000 up on the previous quarter.

Other figures showed that almost a million working days were lost in November as a result of the public sector pensions strike, the highest figure since 1989.

The Office for National Statistics reported that the number of people in full-time employment fell by 57,000 in the latest three months, but there was a 75,000 increase in part-time workers.

There was a 44,000 rise in the number of people working part-time or for themselves because they could not find a full-time job, taking the total to 1.3 million, the highest since comparable records began in 1992.

Employment increased by 18,000 to 29.12 million, while the number of people classed as economically inactive fell by 61,000 to 9.29 million, a rate of 23.1%.

The fall was mainly due to fewer women looking after a family or home, and fewer retired people under the age of 65.

Unemployment increased evenly among men and women in the latest quarter, while the number of people out of work for longer than two years increased by 1,000 to 424,000.

There was a 10,000 fall in the number out of work for more than a year to 857,000.

Average earnings increased by 1.9% in the year to November, down by 0.2 percentage points on the previous month.

Employment Minister Chris Grayling said: “The overall level of unemployment is, and will remain, a major concern for the Government.

“The latest figures reflect the current challenging economic climate but also show more women entering the workforce and more students looking to supplement their income through work.

“When you take into account our welfare reforms, the number of jobseeker allowance claimants has actually fallen.

“Despite the exceptionally difficult economic circumstances, finding work for the unemployed will remain top of the Government’s agenda.”

John Salt, director at recruitment firm totaljobs.com, said: “Whether or not the UK is technically in recession, for those out of work the situation is already dire enough.

“Today’s figures merely confirm what our barometer has been telling us for three months now, that applications per job are at an all-time high of 23, with not enough growth in the labour market to absorb the numbers being laid off. What’s more, the signs for 2012 just aren’t good.

“The eurozone crisis threatens not only jobs reliant on exports but also in the financial services industries. With retail already struggling following a lacklustre Christmas, it is difficult to see sectors in which we’re going to see significant increases in available jobs.”

Paul Kenny, general secretary of the GMB union, said: “This rise in unemployment was made in Downing Street. The truth is that jobs are haemorrhaging in the public and private sectors and no one in the Government seems to know what to do to stop this.

“There are parts of the country in such despair that more than a quarter of households with people of working age have no one in work.

“The number one political priority has to be securing a reduction in unemployment.”

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “These figures are even worse than the bleak economic forecasts predicted, with new records achieved for youth and female unemployment.

“The fear is now that mass joblessness becomes a permanent scar on the UK - with unemployment rising by 1,300 a day towards the end of last year.

“The news for those in work isn’t great either, with pay growth falling and more people having to move to into part-time and insecure self-employment.

“We are in the midst of a full-blown jobs crisis that is causing misery for millions and ruining any chance of an economic recovery.

“Ministers must start putting forward bold solutions to address this crisis, starting with a job guarantee for any young person out of work for six months.”

Martina Milburn, chief executive of youth charity The Prince’s Trust, said: “Britain’s jobless generation are losing hope for the future.

“Unemployment can have a devastating effect, not just on future job and wage prospects, but also damaging well-being and mental health.

“Our research shows that unemployed young people are feeling less confident about the future than they did this time last year.

“The Government must work together with charities and employers on courses that are proven to help young people into jobs. Last year, more than three in four young people supported by The Prince’s Trust moved into work, education or training.”

John Walker, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “Unemployment figures are still rising and do not look set to improve. We know from our members that small firms are looking to shed staff in the first three months of 2012.

“Job losses from the small business sector would make for a difficult labour market. But we can turn this negative story around, if Government is bolder in its changes to existing employment law to incentivise job creation. Too often, firms are discouraged from taking on new staff by the prospect of red tape.”

Charles Levy, senior economist at The Work Foundation, said: “Today’s labour market statistics offer some tentative signs that the economy was stabilising at the end of last year. In the three months to November, employment actually increased by 18,000. This comes after very high job losses over the summer.

“This will, however, be of little comfort to the millions of workers who are facing the toughest labour market since the start of the recession. Comparing the three months to November last year with the previous three months, unemployment increased by 118,000.”

David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “In the face of a challenging economic climate, an increase in unemployment is not entirely surprising, but certain aspects are actually more positive than expected.

“Employment has increased modestly despite the rise in unemployment. This shows the level of inactivity is falling as people return to the labour market and look for work. It is also important to note that more than 300,000 of those aged 16-24 are in full-time education seeking work.

“Nevertheless, the situation is difficult and the combined impact of the austerity plan and problems in the eurozone will result in further increases in the jobless total.”

Kayte Lawton, of the IPPR think-tank, said: “The new ‘youth contract’ cannot come soon enough for a generation of young people experiencing the worst unemployment since comparable records began in 1992.

“The Government needs to guarantee a job for everyone out of work for more than a year. The next priority should be areas of the country experiencing the combination of both high unemployment and a low number of vacancies.”

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: “Once again, young people, aged 18 to 24, are bearing the brunt of George Osborne’s cruel and blinkered economic and fiscal policies that have drained demand from the economy. The next generation is being sacrificed on the altar of economic Thatcherite orthodoxy.

“The fact that the Government is borrowing money for people to do nothing explodes the deficit reduction strategy that has sucked confidence out of every corner of the economy and caused this surge in joblessness in the first place.

“This is money that could have gone towards creating jobs, boosting demand and plans for infrastructure projects. The Government’s stewardship of the economy has been revealed as deeply flawed.”

Dr John Philpott, chief economic adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, said: “With total unemployment and youth unemployment still on the up, with growth in average earnings very subdued, and with a region like the North East now registering a 12% unemployment rate, it’s clear that the UK jobs market is in a very sorry state.

“It now looks likely that the level of unemployment at the end of 2011 will have reached 2.7 million, which was the CIPD’s forecast this time last year.

“There is nothing in these latest jobs figures that makes us feel any more optimistic about our forecast for this year, which points to 2.85 million (8.8%) by the end of 2012.”

Wales’s Business and Enterprise Minister, Edwina Hart, said: “It’s disappointing but not surprising that today’s figures show further weakening in the labour market as a whole for the UK, given the uncertain economic conditions, not least the eurozone crisis.

“It is encouraging to see that, over the most recent quarter, the labour market in Wales outperformed the UK in terms of employment, unemployment and economic inactivity, and that economic inactivity is at its lowest rate in Wales since comparable records began in 1992.

“However, we must take care not to over-interpret the figures, which can be volatile from month to month, or attempt to take any comfort from them as every jobless statistic represents personal misery and hardship for an individual or a family.”