London: The unemployment rate in the UK shot
up to a 13-year high of 7.8 per cent for April-June 2009, as
companies continued to slash jobs to bring down cost.
Moreover, the number of the jobless climbed by 220,000
over the previous quarter to touch 2.43 million (24.3 lakh),
reportedly the highest in nearly 14 years.
"The unemployment rate was 7.8 per cent for the three
months to June 2009, up 0.7 over the previous quarter and up
2.4 over the year.
"The number of unemployed people increased by 220,000
over the quarter and by 750,000 over the year, to reach 2.43
million," the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) said
in a statement today.
Britain has been severely hit by the ongoing financial
crisis and has seen thousands of job losses.
Going by the official data, the number of people in
Britain claiming jobless benefits jumped by 24,900 in July to
1.58 million.
According to the ONS, there were 427,000 job vacancies in
the three months to July 2009, the lowest in eight years and
the largest declines were in finance and business services.
"This is the lowest figure since comparable records began
in 2001 and it is down 26,000 over the previous quarter and
down 203,000 over the year," it noted.
"Most sectors have shown falls in vacancies over the
quarter with the largest fall occurring in finance and
business services (down 13,000)," the statement said.
The total number of unemployed people for the three
months to June 2009 stood at 28.93 million, a fall of 271,000
over the quarter.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, August 12, 2009, 20:45