Unemployment highest since 1999
Updated on 15 October 2008
The number of people out of work soared by 164,000 between June and August this year, prompting calls for the government to create jobs.
Britain has not seen a similar jump in unemployment since the last recession in 1991.
The jump was double that recorded last month. Unemployment will hit two million within months, and some think three million is once again in sight.
That is unleashing new demands for the kind of government intervention once thought dead and discredited.
The number of people in work and the number of vacancies both fell, leading economists to warn that employment prospects are going to get much worse as the economy slows down.
Trade unions have called on the government to immediately create jobs by spending money on public sector building projects like Crossrail.
It takes Britain's jobless total to 1.79m, its highest level since 1999.
The quarterly increase in the number of people out of work, including those not eligible for benefit, was the highest since the summer of 1991, when it jumped by 186,000.
The number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance increased by 31,800 in September to 939,900, the eighth consecutive monthly rise and the highest figure for almost two years.
The total has now risen by 104,900 over the past year.
Employment levels have also slumped - down by 122,000 in the latest quarter to 29.4m, the biggest three-monthly fall since 1993.
Latest data from the Office for National Statistics also showed a 46,000 drop in the number of manufacturing jobs to a record low of 2.87m.
Other figures also confirmed fears that the economic slowdown is now hitting jobs and employment prospects.
A total of 147,000 people were made redundant in the three months to August, an increase of 28,000 on the previous quarter.
Meanwhile the number of people classed as economically inactive, including people looking after a relative, on long-term sick leave or who have given up seeking work, rose by 16,000 in the latest period to 7.89 m, more than 20 per cent of the working age population.
The number of unemployed men increased by 111,000 to over a million in the three months to August, while for women the figure rose by 52,000 to 732,000.
The figures also revealed that the number of people out of work for more than a year has increased by 35,000 to 440,000.
Unemployment among 18 to 24-year-olds was 559,000, up by 56,000 from the three months to May.
