UK Unemployment reaches 14 year high
12/08/2009
Unemployment in the UK hit 2.44m today, as another 220,000 people have now lost their jobs. Plus there are warnings that of more job losses to come.
The increase in job losses between April and June of this year has pushed UK unemployment to the highest level for 14 years, as more businesses are being forced to cut jobs in order to survive. The overall unemployment rate now stands at 7.8%, with young people being hit particularly hard.
Happily the figures were slightly lower than the 2.5m some economists were predicting, however, there is no sign of the rate of unemployment slowing making the 2.5m mark only a matter of time.
Sadly it appears that school leavers are some of the hardest hit with the employment rate for 18-24 year-olds at 60% and only 29% for 16-17 year olds.
Surprising though the number of people claiming jobseekers’ allowance is only 1.58m or 4.9%. The Government has launched an investigation into this discrepancy, but possible reasons include:
- Unwillingness or inability to join claim jobseekers
- Financial support being supplied by families or friends
- Living off redundancy cheques
- Living off savings
Although this is saving the Government money, it might also highlight a problem with the rules or the provision of JSA.
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Redundancy can be hard on both employees and employers and needs to be handled professionally with sensitivity.
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