Unemployment reaches 2.5m

“We all knew it was coming, but it wasn't supposed to happen just yet...

The Office for National Statistics provided the Government with an unwelcome early Christmas present last week by revealing that UK unemployment rose by 35,000 to 2.5m in the three months to September. It's the first rise since the first quarter of this year, and means 7.9% of the workforce are now out of a job - more than the City expected.

And there's an obvious culprit: public sector employment fell by 33,000 to 6m during the period, the biggest drop since quarterly records began in 1999. After a year in which the labour market has actually done rather better than everyone expected, the figures presage a rocky year ahead...”

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