Unemployment up by 137,000
Updated on 17 December 2008
The number of Britons out of work increases for the 10th month in a row, bringing the total unemployed to 1.86 million.
People claiming jobseeker's allowance has risen by 75,700 - much more than expected and took the total number of people claiming jobless benefit to over one million for the first time since 2001.
It is the biggest monthly increase since the spring of 1991.
The Office for National Statistics said the broader ILO measure of unemployment between August and October, including those not eligible for benefits, surged to its highest level since the three months to June 1999.
The grim figures were compounded by a big fall in job vacancies, down by 49,000 in the last three months to 562,000, the joint lowest on record.
