UK (un)Employment Figures Another Cause for Concern

Today, the UK population were given further cause for concern, regarding the strength of the UK economy, when the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released the latest round of employment data for the three months ending December 2010.

The figures showed the UK unemployment rose by 44,000 to almost 2.5m, perhaps the most concerning extrapolation from this report is that youth unemployment rose to a record high with one in five 16-24 year old out of work a rise of 66,000 to 965,000.

• The UK unemployment rate now stands at 7.5% with youth unemployment running at a deeply worrying 20.5%.
• The number of people now seeking Job Seekers allowance also rose by 2,400 a month to 1.46, also putting further pressure on the UKs fiscal position at a time when the government is aiming to reduce the welfare bill in a bid to cut the deficit.

David Cameron also seems to be concerned by the high youth unemployment rate, saying that is was a "matter of great regret".

Most analyst expect the UK unemployment rate to rise further as the government continues to cut public spending in order to reduce the public deficit. However this could also have the adverse effect, since the number of people claiming Job Seekers allowance continues to rise.