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Region's unemployment continues to rise

Unemployment in the North East rose by 12.6% in the three months to July, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The latest figures show that 116,000 people in the region were out of work - up 13,000 on the previous quarter, with 9.4% of the potential workforce i jobless.

Nationally, unemployment is at a 14-year high with 2.47 million people out of work after a 210,000 rise in unemployment in the same period. Overall the jobless total is at its highest level since May 1995, with the unemployment rate now at 7.9% - up 0.7% on the previous three months and the highest since November 1996.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “There are now over a million people out of work for more than six months, more than one in three of them under 25. There are no signs of recovery here.

“This is not the time to take risks with policies that could make unemployment worse. It might look rosier in City dealing rooms but out in the real world unemployment is the number one issue.”

Derek Simpson, joint leader of Unite, said: “Gordon Brown has charted a steady course through these troubled times and a break from Labour would shatter any fragile recovery. The Government’s help for young people and new apprenticeships shows that Labour is committed to supporting jobs.”

David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “Although the increase in unemployment was marginally smaller than feared, the figures are consistent with our assessment that the jobless total will rise to over three million next year.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .