Jul/090
Unemployment figures in the UK top the 2.3 million mark
As the recession takes as strong a grip as ever, more and more firms are cutting costs in every way possible and the most effective way of doing that is of course to cut jobs. A “worse than expected” set of figures indicated that unemployment has rose by a new record 281,000 to 2.38 million, in the three months to May. The statistics released by the Office for National Statistics said.
The jobless rate increased to 7.6%, the highest in more than 10 years.
But the number of people claiming unemployment benefit increased by 23,800 in June to 1.56 million which was less than analysts had forecast.
Jul/090
UK Recession - The facts and figures
The UK is officially in recession for the first time since 1991, according to official government figures.
These latest figures show that the UK’s GDP fell by just over 1.5% between the start of October and the end of December 2008. This followed a dip of 0.6% in the previous 3-month period.
So, for those who were not sure whether to believe the country had entered a recession at that time, the definition of having 2 back-to-back declining quarters had been achieved - and with ease.
Not since 1980 had the UK seen such a big decline in the economy from quarter to quarter. From the same period in 2007 there had been a decline of 1.8%.
Head of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, added: ‘There are genuine concerns about how quickly the recovery will pick up. Uncertainty over the global economy makes it very difficult to be confident of a rapid recovery.’
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