Unemployment figures: cause for hope?
Updated on 14 October 2009
As new figures show a slowdown in the rate at which unemployment is growing, union leaders say there is cause for hope. John Sparks reports.
The figures published by the Office for National Statistics showed that in the three months to August 2.47 million people were unemployed, a rise of 88,000, the lowest increase since May last year.
The number of young people looking for a job was 946,000, a fall of 1,000.
The number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance rose by 20,800 in September from a revised August figure to 1.63 million, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
But ministers have warned that unemployment remains a "serious problem".
Are there are brighter prospects for the jobs market, or are struggling employers merely cutting hours and pay, rather than shedding staff?
Jon Snow speaks to work and pensions minister Jim Knight and his conservative counterpart, Mark Harper.
