UK unemployment rises to 2.2m
May 13 2009
The biggest emergency facing the UK is unemployment, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) claims, as the number of people out of work hits 2.2 million.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that the first three months of 2009 saw the largest quarterly jump in unemployment since 1981, with 244,000 people becoming jobless since December.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber comments: 'These figures are even worse than expected. Unemployment will almost certainly pass the 2.5 million mark by summer.'
He also stresses the urgency of the situation and calls on the government to 'use all possible means' to rectify the problem, suggesting that economic recovery will only occur in the real world when unemployment begins to fall.
Also commenting on the figures, David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, advises the government to protect the UK's manufacturing skills base.
Frost calls for public funds to be used to provide training and to encourage businesses to recruit and retain more staff, as well as suggesting the introduction of a temporary short time working scheme and the planned increase in national insurance to be scrapped.
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